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Jennifer Wharton's Bonegasm: Grit & Grace
by Dan Bilawsky
Blessed be the 'bone of invention and intention that is Jennifer Wharton. A mere six years ago, the noted bass trombonist had the idea to form a slide-centric septet and commission new music to bring her oft-neglected and ballasting instrument to the fore. Driven to act on that concept, Wharton thought things through, put a plan in motion and willed Bonegasm into existence. That aptly-titled band recorded its eponymous debut in 2018, released that revelation of a record in 2019, ...
Continue ReadingSteven Feifke: The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra
by Angelo Leonardi
Metti assieme un talentoso giovane orchestratore come Steven Feifke, un trombettista di prima grandezza come Bijon Watson e una big band con grandi nomi e prestigiosi ospiti e il risultato è scontato. Il debutto della Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra è stato propiziato dalla collaborazione col Jazz Education Network ed ha assunto le vesti di un album includendo in organico ospiti di rilievo come Kurt Elling, Sean Jones e Chad Lefkowitz Brown. Il principale riferimento è la tradizione ...
Continue ReadingJohn Fedchock Swings at Old Dominion University
by Mark Robbins
Frank Sinatra said: “My greatest teacher was not a vocal coach, not the work of other singers, but the way Tommy Dorsey breathed and phrased on the trombone." Sinatra could have easily been describing John Fedchock on the trombone. Since beginning his career with the Woody Herman Orchestra in 1980, Fedchock has become one of the finest, if not the finest, trombonist performing today. The multi-nominated Grammy Award trombonist is no stranger to the Tidewater area. It was ...
Continue ReadingJennifer Wharton: Not a Novelty
by Dan Bilawsky
The eponymous debut from Jennifer Wharton's Bonegasm broke the mold. There are no two ways about it. And while some may look at a statement like that and cry hyperbole, history begs to differ. With rare exception, the bass trombone—a horn forever typecast as an anchor—has been marginalized. So the idea of an ensemble featuring that denizen of the depths—a band playing music specifically commissioned to hinge on it, highlight it, and showcase the playing of one of its foremost ...
Continue ReadingGeneration Gap Jazz Orchestra: The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra
by Jack Bowers
The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, co-led by pianist/composer Steven Feifke and trumpeter par excellence Bijon Watson, is a seventeen-member ensemble comprising seasoned players paired with young lions who are poised to capture pride of place. Nowhere do the leaders say who is in which group, and it would be impolitic to name them here. Suffice to say that some of the names may be more familiar than others--as, for example, trombonist John Fedchock who cut his teeth with one of ...
Continue ReadingMichael Eckroth Group: Plena
by Dan Bilawsky
Michael Eckroth had clear goals in mind for this project--"to create music that was lyrical, modern, true to its Afro-Latin roots, but never purist in its approach"--and he's accomplished his mission with gusto. Through Plena, this Grammy-nominated pianist/composer delivers a program of original music that, while acknowledging folkloric traditions, doesn't buy into their formal strictures and structures. Instead, Eckroth deals in forward-thinking offshoots and branch realities that beautifully extend on--and past--those points. Essentially working with two different ...
Continue ReadingJennifer Wharton's Bonegasm: Not A Novelty
by Dan McClenaghan
The trombone came into its own as a lead and solo instrument in jazz on the shoulders of J.J. Johnson, in the early days of bebop. His Four Trombones: The Debut Recordings (Prestige, 1953) celebrated the big brass instrument with three fellow 'bone men--Kai Winding, Bennie Green and Willie Davis, all joining Johnson in a four man front line. Now Jennifer Wharton presents a four trombone summit of her own with Not A Novelty, the second outing of her group ...
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