Jazz Articles about John Surman

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John Surman: From Boy Choirs to Big Horns

by John Kelman
August 31, 2009

It's increasingly risky to be a musician on the road. When British saxophonist John Surman was traveling from his home in Oslo, Norway, to New York City in September, 2007 for a recording session, he almost lost his baritone saxophone to the airlines. “It is a nightmare traveling now," says Surman, “and hardly a tour goes by without something going missing, and of course there's the damage problem. Nowadays you get one handbag, which of course is my soprano, so ...

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John Surman: Brewster's Rooster

by John Kelman
July 29, 2009

After a string of more jazz-centric ECM releases--1992's relatively free Adventure Playground, the large ensemble of 1993's The Brass Project, and the only document of his ongoing quartet with pianist John Taylor, bassist Chris Laurence and drummer John Marshall, 1994's Stranger Than Fiction--saxophonist John Surman's subsequent output for the label has consisted of unorthodox but no less intriguing projects. From solo recordings (1995's A Biography of The Rev. Absalom Dawe) and works for saxophone/bass clarinet and string ensemble (2007's The ...

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Tierney Sutton Band: Desire

by Carl L. Hager
July 12, 2009

Tierney Sutton Band Desire Telarc 2009Singer Tierney Sutton's Desire is the kind of provocative musical work that could change the way a listener hears music. It is an album that is meant to spiritually provoke. It arrests, alarms, it even terrifies.

By the end of “It's Only A Paper Moon," the first track, it is quite plain this isn't the Tin Pan Alley of yesteryear. The much-recorded Harold ...

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"Proverbs And Songs" by John Surman, Howard Moody and the Ultime Thule Choir at the 2009 Nordlysfestivalen, Tromso, Norway

by Mark Sabbatini
February 3, 2009

John Surman, Howard Moody, John Taylor, Ultime Thule Choir Nordlysfestivalen, Ishavskatedralen (Arctic Cathedral)Tromso, Norway January 23-31, 2009

It's been a couple of years since saxophonist John Surman performed his Proverbs And Songs suite. But judging from what he wrung from it after four days' rehearsal with an amateur choir north of the Arctic Circle, his spiritual side seems intact.Surman reunited with Howard Moody and John Taylor, switching their respective ...

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John Surman - Howard Moody: Rain on the Window

by AAJ Italy Staff
July 7, 2008

C'è un che di religioso, in questo lavoro discografico di Surman e Moody. E non si tratta (o quantomeno non solo) della presenza dell'organo. E neppure di uno spiritual ("I'm Troubled in Mind") che è entrato anche nel songbook (ammesso che si possa dire così) della tradizione cattolica italiana. E', piuttosto, la rigorosa austerità, il severo autocontrollo che permea tutta la musica dell'album, a darci questa dimensione religiosa. Quasi che l'abbandono improvvisativo, il guizzo nervoso, lo squarcio libertario di certe ...

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John Surman: The Spaces in Between

by Budd Kopman
September 4, 2007

The sumptuous and moving The Spaces in Between represents eight years of growth--not only for multi-reedman/composer John Surman, but also the string quartet Trans4mation, as it originally appeared on Coruscating (ECM, 1999). Bassist Chris Laurence is the link between the two worlds of jazz and classical music, having worked with Surman for more than thirty years, but who has also played in the classical field, working with many musicians, among them the players that came together as ...

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John Surman: The Spaces in Between

by John Kelman
August 16, 2007

One challenge facing many musicians is the documentation of widespread musical interests. More often than not, artists engage in projects that are heard in performance, perhaps on a radio broadcast, but then never again. Sometimes ongoing projects are documented, but only once, as is the case with British woodwind multi-instrumentalist John Surman's superb Stranger Than Fiction (ECM, 1994)--the only commercial recording featuring his longstanding quartet of pianist John Taylor, bassist Chris Laurence and drummer John Marshall.

Making it good news ...