Jazz Articles about John Hébert

About John Hébert

Album Review

Anthony Branker: Manifestations of a Diasporic Groove & Spirit

Read "Manifestations of a Diasporic Groove & Spirit" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
March 10, 2026

At the time of this writing (early 2026), the United States is beset by an odious president, a racist sociopath who seems hellbent on erasing all references to achievement or success of anyone of African descent--leaving aside that we are all of African descent; but some made the relocation to North America involuntarily. Stubborn resistance and unvarnished artistic statement--shoulders pulled back, chins jutting forward--are tools to fight the evil fool(s), and Anthony Branker does his part. Uppity (2013), ...

Album Review

Frank Carlberg: Dream Machine

Read "Dream Machine" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
October 31, 2025

Il signor Frank Carlberg, originario di Helsinki, da molti anni si è ritagliato un ruolo importante nella comunità jazzistica newyorkese. Dopo gli studi al Berklee College of Music e al New England Conservatory--dove ha avuto maestri del calibro di Paul Bley, Ran Blake, Geri Allen e Jimmy Giuffre--ha collaborato con figure come Steve Lacy e Kenny Wheeler. In tempi più recenti ha incrociato il suo pianoforte con compagni di studi quali Jim Black, Chris Cheek, Antonio Hart, Sam Newsome, Chris ...

Album Review

Eric McPherson: Double Bass Quartet - Live

Read "Double Bass Quartet - Live" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 1, 2025

Drummer Eric McPherson has long been recognized as a musician who combines rhythmic ingenuity and structural awareness in any project he undertakes. With Double Bass Quartet, recorded before a quietly appreciative New York audience, McPherson has assembled an unconventional line-up of Cuban pianist David Virelles along with bassists John Hébert and Ben Street, that challenges and redefines the traditional quartet format. The ensemble's two-bass configuration immediately invites comparisons to the more exploratory aspects of jazz history, yet this is no ...

Album Review

Álvaro Torres: Iris

by Angelo Leonardi
August 14, 2025

Tempus fugit. Quest'album fotografa il debutto professionale a New York del pianista madrileno Álvaro Torres, in trio col batterista Barry Altschul e il contrabbassista John Hébert. La registrazione è del luglio 2023 ma già il mese successivo Torres presentava a Barcellona il quartetto europeo con Tony Malaby al sax tenore, Masa Kamaguchi al contrabbasso e Kresten Osgood alla batteria, documentato dalla Fresh Sound (Live in Barcelona). Giunto a New York nel 2020 per iniziare il suo master alla ...

Album Review

Marty Ehrlich Trio Exaltation: This Time

Read "This Time" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
May 27, 2025

La prima cosa che ci colpisce--e ci sorprende, anche--di questo album è il fatto che un polistrumentista di regola vorace come Marty Ehrlich vi si dedichi praticamente a senso unico al sax alto, con la sola eccezione di “This Space, This Time," in cui passa al tenore, lasciando tuttavia in un angolo tutto il resto del suo vasto armamentario strumentale. Poi il linguaggio, certo attualissimo, ma non spinto in avanti come in altre occasioni, con portati tematici molto ...

Album Review

Western Jazz Collective: Dark Journey: The Music of Andrew Rathbun

Read "Dark Journey: The Music of Andrew Rathbun" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 7, 2025

The Western Jazz Collective is a seven-member co-op group that actually hails from America's Midwest--more specifically, Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo--where the ensemble's crew serve as members of the faculty. The designation “Western" thus refers to the university rather than the septet's geographic location. Be that as it may, what infuses and animates the Collective's debut album, Dark Journey, is the music, all of which was composed by the group's saxophonist-in-residence, Andrew Rathbun. There are nine songs ...

Album Review

Álvaro Torres Trio: Iris

by Dan Bilawsky
September 27, 2024

At the age of 19, the Madrid-born, globe-hopping pianist Álvaro Torres fantasized about a life in New York, surrounded by influences and inspiration(s). And at the age of 29, he's living that dream. Studies at the Manhattan School of Music offered an initial pathway into all that the Big Apple has to offer, and life beyond that institution ultimately yielded two important musical relationships, a new trio and this gripping date. In the process of sewing himself ...