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Jazz Articles about John Yao
The Awakening Orchestra: Volume II: To Call Her to a Higher Plan
by Angelo Leonardi
Tra gli orchestratori e bandleader emersi di recente Kyle Saulnier è uno dei più interessanti. Il suo esordio con l'Awakening Orchestra nel doppio This Is Not the Answer (Innova 2014) ha rappresentato una sorprendente rivelazione per padronanza di scrittura e spregiudicata sintesi di elementi diversi, inclusi il free e il rock. Con un taglio espressivo un po' diverso, il successivo Atticus Live! (Biophilia 2016) ha confermato la versatilità del leader nel coniugare altri mondi musicali (ovvero le musiche ...
Continue ReadingJohn Yao's Triceratops: How We Do
by Alberto Bazzurro
Il quarantatreenne trombonista newyorchese di chiare origini orientali John Yao dirige in questo album un quintetto solido il cui punto di forza, oltre al leader, è costituito dalla coppia di sax, anche se tutti e cinque i musicisti impegnati fanno per intero la loro parte. Vi si respira un clima post-bop molto ben costruito e tornito, magari non originalissimo ma non privo di una certa sapienza architettonica e compositiva (tutti i temi sono a firma di Yao). ...
Continue ReadingJohn Yao, Chris Potter, Clark Terry and More
by Joe Dimino
This week we open with John Yao, one of the best kept secrets in the world of jazz, featuring his group Triceratops with a cut off his latest album How We Do. And best kept jazz secrets is one of the themes of this episode. We also look into the world of accomplished jazz cats Chris Potter, George Shearing and Clark Terry. One of our persistent themes is profiling the modern jazz musician for insights into the music they create ...
Continue ReadingJohn Yao's Triceratops: How We Do
by Franz A. Matzner
Trombonist and bandleader John Yao possesses a penchant for imposing ambitious artistic constraints on himself. How We Do continues that trend with a newly formed quintet comprised only of three horns, bass, and drums. Yao further ups the ante by composing demanding pieces that often careen from one stylistic approach to another within the same tune. This breed of endeavor can result in a final product mainly appreciated by fellow musicians and dedicated aficionados. Fortunately, Yao and his ...
Continue ReadingJohn Yao Quintet: Presence
by Dan Bilawsky
As human beings we tend to take the very notion of presence for granted, be it the presence of a loved one in our lives, the presence manufactured by our own actions as we present ourselves to the world, or the presence of all that comes and goes in our daily existence. For some reason these things just rarely factor into the way we think from moment to moment. But they should. Those multiple dimensions of meaning ...
Continue ReadingJohn Yao: Flip-Flop
by Karl Ackermann
On his 2012 debut, trombonist John Yao navigated multiple complex territories ranging from the experimental to traditional balladry. A regular presence on the New York scene, Yao has worked with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. Having absorbed those big band sensibilities, Yao graduates from his inaugural quintet to a seventeen-piece ensemble. Flip-Flop features ten Yao compositions ranging from straight-ahead swing to frenzied group improvisations. Joining Yao are two top-tier saxophonists in Jon Irabagon--of ...
Continue ReadingJohn Yao and His 17-Piece Instrument: Flip-Flop
by Jack Bowers
Music aside, you have to love the name of this band: John Yao and His 17-Piece Instrument. Now there's confidence with a capital C! Yao, a New York City-based trombonist who arrived there from his native Chicago more than a decade ago, has more recently turned his hand to composing and arranging. Yao writes with the group dynamic in mind, one result of which is Flip-Flop, an adventurous big-band debut on which Yao's all-star “Instrument" performs his elaborate charts with ...
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