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Rudy Royston & Flatbed Buggy: DAY
by Dan McClenaghan
Drummer Rudy Royston debuted his group Flatbed Buggy in 2018, with the eponymous Greenleaf Records release. It had the feeling of a jazz-folk chamber group. With its unusual instrumentation--Gary Versace's accordion, Hank Roberts' cello, and John Ellis' bass clarinet joining Royston's drums and Joe Martin's bass--a laid-back and engaging Americana vibe emerged. The follow-up, Day, is more of the same, with a bit more swing. With an ear towards the past, the sound recalls drummer Chico Hamilton's mid-50s ...
Continue ReadingJohn Ellis, Andy Bragen: The Ice Siren
by Angelo Leonardi
Dopo Dreamscapes e MOBRO John Ellis e Andy Bragen firmano un altro lavoro d'ampio respiro, che si snoda in equilibrio tra scrittura cameristica, jazz e opera contemporanea. Ellis ha scritto la musica e partecipa come strumentista; Bragen ha composto il libretto, ispirandosi al filone gothic fantasy di autori come Tim Burton ne “La sposa cadavere" (titolo originale The Corpse Bride). L'opera è stata commissionata dalla Jazz Gallery di New York e presentata lo scorso anno durante ...
Continue ReadingReggie Quinerly: New York Nowhere
by Chris M. Slawecki
Born in Houston, drummer Reggie Quinerly attended his hometown's famous High School of the Performing and Visual Arts. He then moved on to study under such masters as Jimmy Cobb, Lewis Nash, and Kenny Washington in the Masters in Jazz Studies program at Juilliard, and released his debut recording, Music Inspired by Freedmantown (Self Produced, 2012) soon after graduating. Quinerly composed New York Nowhere, his fourth release as a leader, as his farewell to the city he called ...
Continue ReadingJon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Angelo Leonardi
Più noto come eccellente sax contralto e leader di un apprezzato quartetto, Jon Gordon torna a incidere un disco orchestrale per la ArtistShare, dopo l'album Evolution del lontano 2009. Registrato nel mezzo della pandemia, con tutte le difficoltà e restrizioni che sappiamo, il nuovo lavoro rinnova la collaborazione col trombonista e arrangiatore Alan Ferber che partecipa al progetto nel triplice ruolo di co-produttore, arrangiatore di un brano ("Havens") e solista di trombone. Il medio organico include anche il clarinetto basso ...
Continue ReadingJon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Jon Gordon's superb 13th release as a leader, Stranger Than Fiction, consists of 10 cinematic and captivating originals. Gordon leads a large ensemble of mostly Canadian musicians through his vibrantly textured compositions. The focus is more on dynamic interplay of different band members and orchestral segments than on individual expressions. There are, however, brilliantly virtuosic soloists who seamlessly emerge out of these vividly ebullient works making them even more electrifyingly alive. Opening with delightfully dissonant staccato woodwinds ...
Continue ReadingJon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Jack Bowers
New York-bred alto saxophonist Jon Gordon has come a long way since he was hailed as something of a prodigy in the mid-1980s and earned first place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1996. The music performed by Gordon's nonet on Stranger Than Fiction, we are told, “reflects [his] realization that reality takes twists and turns [that are] far more unpredictable than any author would dare write." There are indeed many twists and turns—most ...
Continue ReadingDr. Lonnie Smith: Breathe
by La-Faithia White
Dr. Lonnie Smith, guru of the Hammond B3 organ for over five decades, now releases eight songs, six of which were recorded live in 2017 at The Jazz Standard in New York City, during his seventy-fifth birthday. In December 2020, The Jazz Standard closed because of the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic which has taken the lives of many jazz clubs throughout the USA. The opening song, “Why Can't We Live Together," is a remake of the 1972 ...
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