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Jazz Articles about Johnathan Blake
Greg Abate: Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron
by Chris M. Slawecki
Musicians will sometimes honor another musician who influenced their lives or work with a tribute or memorial recording after that influential musician has passed on. There's an abundance of first-rate music on the double-disc Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron. But the best thing about it is that the leader, flutist and saxophonist Greg Abate, convinced Kenny Barron to fill its piano chair. “Kenny was kind enough to provide me with music for a range of his tunes, some ...
Continue ReadingJohnathan Blake, Florian Arbenz, Pat Metheny, Giorgio LiCalzi & Other New Releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
A delightful end-of-summer menu of electro-acoustic new releases, building bridges between yesterday, today and tomorrow, visionary guitar and trumpet players, drummers and vibraphone synergies, and more music from the late Frank Kimbrough. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Kenny Garrett “Hargrove" Sounds from the Ancestors (Mack Avenue) 0:16 Host talks 5:25 Pat Metheny “Timeline" Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) (Modern) 6:34 Host talks 13:36 The Eivind Aarset 4et “Pearl ...
Continue ReadingGreg Abate: Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron
by Rob Rosenblum
Magic Dance is an offering by multi instrumentalist Greg Abate, who is a proud keeper of the bebop flame. In the 75 plus years that bebop has been around, there have probably been hundreds of thousands of quartet records with sax, piano, bass and drums, a few of which have been contributed by Abate. But this one is a departure from his previous releases, and because it isn't the bare bones presentation that jazz fans are accustomed to, it may ...
Continue ReadingRale Micic: Only Love Will Stay
by Jack Bowers
Only Love Will Stay, a tasteful and even-keeled trio date, embodies seven of Serbian-born guitarist and leader Rale Micic's original compositions and a lone standard, Irving Berlin's venerable “How Deep Is the Ocean." Micic is ably supported by organist Jared Gold and either Johnathan Blake (five tracks) or Geoff Clapp (three) on drums. Micic's themes are respectable but, if you want to hear the trio at its best, go straight to Berlin (Irving, that is). Micic is even brighter and ...
Continue ReadingDr. Lonnie Smith: Breathe
by La-Faithia White
Dr. Lonnie Smith, guru of the Hammond B3 organ for over five decades, now releases eight songs, six of which were recorded live in 2017 at The Jazz Standard in New York City, during his seventy-fifth birthday. In December 2020, The Jazz Standard closed because of the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic which has taken the lives of many jazz clubs throughout the USA. The opening song, “Why Can't We Live Together," is a remake of the 1972 ...
Continue ReadingDr. Lonnie Smith: Breathe
by Angelo Leonardi
Nel nuovo album di Dr.Lonnie Smith, appena uscito per la Blue Note, non c'è solo il traboccante groove del suo trio. Per il 75mo compleanno dell'organista Hammond, il produttore Don Was ha fatto le cose in grande, pubblicando la registrazione di una una serata allo Jazz Standard (a New York nel 2017) con un organico strumentale con nomi illustri, come il trombonista Robin Eubanks e la cantante Alicia Olatuja. Piuttosto insolita, ma riuscitissima, risulta poi la collaborazione ripresa in studio ...
Continue ReadingKenny Barron - Dave Holland Trio feat. Johnathan Blake: Without Deception
by Angelo Leonardi
A distanza di sei anni dal celebrato The Art f Conversation, Kenny Barron e Dave Holland introducono nel loro sodalizio il batterista Johnathan Blake per realizzare un nuovo pregevole lavoro che non ricalca—com'è giusto che sia—quello precedente. In questa modifica di formazione pesa il fantasioso apporto ritmico del batterista ma non è l'unico fattore. In quel disco sei dei dieci brani erano ballad o temi lirici che favorivano un dialogo intimo tra i due maestri, qui prevalgono composizioni ritmicamente spigliate, ...
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