Jazz Articles about John Goldsby

Chuck Owen and the WDR Big Band: Renderings

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2023

Anyone who uses YouTube to search for contemporary jazz must surely be familiar with Germany's blue-ribbon WDR Big Band, as it is abundantly represented at the site. Bearing that in mind, it may come as no surprise to those seekers (and others) that the WDR's latest recording, on which it is paired with the esteemed Florida-based composer and arranger Chuck Owen, offers another master class in big-band artistry, or how to make even the most arduous charts seem deceptively simple. ...

Hendrik Meurkens and the WDR Big Band: Samba Jazz Odyssey

by Jack Bowers
October 16, 2022

One could probably count the number of big-band albums featuring a harmonica player on the fingers of one hand and leave some unused. Only one other springs to mind here, and it was released so many years ago that the names have long since been forgotten. And so it is indeed a genuine pleasure to hear the virtuosic Hendrik Meurkens performing with one of the world's foremost large ensembles, Cologne, Germany's exemplary WDR Big Band. More than ...

Hendrik Meurkens: Samba Jazz Odyssey

by Edward Blanco
June 18, 2022

One of the leading proponents of bossa nova and samba in the jazz world, New York-based chromatic harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Meurkens continues his love affair with Brazilian music with the big band sound of Samba Jazz Odyssey, his seventh release on the ZOHO record label. This time Meurkens is joined by the world-renown WDR Big Band from Cologne, Germany where the maestro and ensemble record nine tracks and seven of his most popular compositions arranged by Grammy-nominated conductor Michael Phillip ...

The John Goldsby Trio: Segment

by Mike Jurkovic
January 1, 2021

Let's humor one another and just say that it's the hardest of the hard core who won't find themselves swept up in this snazzy little tart of a disc. It's music that gives you enough rope to range and get your chores done but holds you always in its easeful sway as the world is in freefall. Segment, the newest respite from bassist John Goldsby's intimately tuned association with pianist Hans Dekker and drummer Billy Test, is a ...

Dave Stryker: Blue Soul

by Jerome Wilson
June 29, 2020

Germany's WDR Big Band has welcomed a great variety of musicians such as Fred Hersch, Michel Camilo, Ambrose Akinmusire and Jimmy Heath as guest soloists over the years. On this occasion they provide an invigorating backdrop for the springy and soulful guitar of Dave Stryker. The set list on this CD finds Stryker and the band tackling a combination of vintage pop and soul hits and the guitarist's original compositions, all arranged and conducted by saxophonist Bob Mintzer. ...

Dave Stryker with Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band: Blue Soul

by Jack Bowers
May 17, 2020

Bob Mintzer had an idea. The renowned tenor saxophonist, who serves as principal conductor of Cologne, Germany's world-class WDR Big Band, had made several appearances as guest artist with guitarist Dave Stryker's New York-based organ trio and was so impressed that he thought it would be a good idea to re-orchestrate some of Stryker's music for big band and invite the guitar maestro to return the favor by traveling to Germany and performing as guest artist with the WDR ensemble, ...

John Goldsby: Viewpoint

by Dave Nathan
October 1, 2001

Viewpoint takes a slightly different course than most recent releases by the German Nagel Heyer label which have focused on mainstream/traditional jazz. On this album they give Kentucy born and top ranked bassist, John Goldsby, the opportunity to perform on a series of originals and standards, assuming a modern, progressive bent.

This is Goldsby's second album as a leader and first since 1994. He is joined by a group of players who, like him, make Europe their home. Although the ...