Jazz Articles about John Riley

About John Riley

Album Review

There is a certain confidence that comes with age and experience. It is the kind that allows a musician to gather friends, trust their instincts, and let the music tell its own story. Bassist Chuck Bergeron's Bass and Face feels exactly like that. As one of Florida's long-admired and versatile players, Bergeron proves himself to be an equally thoughtful curator. What makes this release inviting is that Bergeron surrounds himself with an extraordinary lineup of vocal personalities, each bringing a ...

Album Review

Darren Litzie: On My Own Time

Read "On My Own Time" reviewed by Don Ball

by Don Ball
February 25, 2026

Pianist Darren Litzie's sophomore release as a leader, On My Own Time, eschews the horns of his first release and takes a simpler approach, with bassist Chris DeAngelis and drummer John Riley providing the solid rhythm backing. Litzie also wrote two-thirds of the tunes and shows an imaginative approach to composition, writing in different beat-centric genres to highlight his strong sense of rhythm and melody. It is the rhythm of Litzie's playing that really stands out. There is ...

Album Review

Gabriele Comeglio: The Journey

Read "The Journey" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
November 12, 2025

In un ruolo più appartato rispetto a jazzisti italiani della generazione precedente, divenuti celebri anche al grande pubblico, Gabriele Comeglio ha svolto continuative esperienze anche nella musica leggera, producendo ed orchestrando numerosi dischi di Mina, collaborando con Battiato, Dalla, De Gregori, Daniele, Antoniacci e altri, scrivendo musiche per teatro, cinema e televisione. La sua carriera di professionista nel mondo del jazz è iniziata nei primi anni ottanta dopo il diploma alla Berklee School di Boston e tre lauree ...

Album Review

Nocturnal Four: Light In The World

Read "Light In The World" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 27, 2020

A band of the night embraces light. It's an equipoise in interests that propels this outing to great depths and heights. Croatian guitarist Ratko Zjaca, long a proponent for cross-cultural exchange in music, uses this dark yet illuminating platform to sow the seeds of accord with a band of brothers from different motherlands. He reunites with Italian saxophonist Stefano Bedetti and Slovenian organist Renato Chicco, who proved to be his perfect match(es) on Life on Earth (In ...

Album Review

Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer

Read "OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
August 24, 2015

Questo disco ci è giunto con un po' di ritardo ma va assolutamente segnalato. È infatti uno dei migliori dischi dell'anno nonchè un omaggio al genio orchestrale di Bob Brookmeyer. Forse non tutti sanno che lo storico trombonista, partner negli anni cinquanta di Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan e Jimmy Giuffre, è stato uno di massimi orchestratori moderni: nel 1966 partecipò alla fondazione della Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, scrivendo decine di partiture, e nel 1990 ne divenne il direttore, quando la ...

Album Review

Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer

Read "OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer" reviewed by John Ephland

by John Ephland
October 23, 2014

There's a richness, a depth, a density to his varied charts. And the soloists and ensemble passages inside those charts! Such has always been the case with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, then, and now. For real, gliding from the spirit of Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, this edition of the VJO now embraces another one of its own: trombonist/composer/arranger/pianist Bob Brookmeyer, with Over Time: Music Of Bob Brookmeyer. And what different sound comes from this grand aggregate of ...

Album Review

Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer

Read "OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 13, 2014

While it may be hard to believe, the reality is that the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra is nearing the end of its first half-century together. Formed in 1966 as the Thad Jones -Mel Lewis Orchestra, it continued on after Jones' departure as the Mel Lewis Orchestra, then as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra after Lewis' death in February 1990. During many of those years, the ensemble was enriched by the compositions and arrangements of the renowned Bob Brookmeyer (1929-2011), a master craftsman ...