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Jon Irabagon: Foxy
by Mark Corroto
Fashioned as a late night session, the continuous 78 minutes of saxophonist Jon Irabagon's Foxy is an unrelenting sixteen-bar jam that feels as if the infamous Dean Benedetti had recorded the get-together and now, some nine months (not years) later, it is being released. Irabagon, the winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition, has never rested on the laurels of that distinguished title. He has divided his time between more traditional jazz, recording The Observer (Concord, ...
Continue ReadingJon Irabagon: Foxy
by Troy Collins
The classic late 1950s trio recordings of Sonny Rollins are widely revered by up and coming saxophonists as a benchmark against which to prove themselves. Saxophonist Jon Irabagon, winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and a celebrated member of the infamous quintet Mostly Other People Do the Killing, wryly acknowledges this fact on his first trio record, Foxy, which takes a cue (visually and conceptually) from Rollins' seminal 1957 masterpiece, Way Out West (Contemporary).Though boasting ...
Continue ReadingJon Irabagon: The Observer
by AAJ Italy Staff
Eccolo di nuovo quel diavolo di un Jon Irabagon! Ha da poco licenziato due album che hanno gettato non poco scompiglio nel mondo del jazz nordamericano - il clamoroso esordio di Outright! in quintetto e il formidabile I Don't Hear Nothin' But the Blues in duo con il batterista Mike Pride (senza contare i dischi con i Mostly Other People Do The Killing) - ed ecco il nostro in un album 100% straight-ahead, nientemeno che per Concord Jazz, etichetta principe ...
Continue ReadingJon Irabagon with Mike Pride: I Don't Hear Nothin' But the Blues
by AAJ Italy Staff
L'immagine di copertina che ritrae un vecchio treno merci con due figure appollaiate sul tetto e il titolo così didascalico e perentorio farebbero pensare ad una qualche rivisitazione della musica delle radici nelle sue varie declinazioni ancorate al mito del viaggio e dell'avventura. Niente di più fuorviante perché il blues del titolo compare nel ruvido attacco iniziale del sax di Jon Irabagon ed in qualche cellula melodica sparsa qua è là a mo' di esile raccordo tra le tante anime ...
Continue ReadingJon Irabagon with Mike Pride: I Don't Hear Nothin' But the Blues
by Eyal Hareuveni
Sometimes you don't need more than a sax and a drum set. Tenor saxophonist Jon Irabagon--winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition and a potent and articulate front man of the post-modern be-bop quartet Mostly Others Do The Killing--and versatile drummer Mike Pride--a collaborator of Anthony Braxton and punk outfits such as Millions of Dead Cops--prove this point on their first recorded duet. It is a powerful and dynamic exhibition of flowing improvisation that does not bind itself to ...
Continue ReadingJon Irabagon Plays KC Jazz Club
by Franz A. Matzner
Jon IrabagonKennedy CenterWashington D.C.October 30, 2009 Simple without being simplistic; straightforward without being strictly straight-ahead; unpretentious, yet artistically thoughtful; humble, yet full of youthful confidence, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Competition, showcased a compelling mix of humor, technique, and engaging music during his October 30 concert at the Kennedy Center's KC Jazz Club. A native of Illinois, Irabagon picked up the saxophone as a ...
Continue ReadingJon Irabagon: The Observer
by John Sharpe
Back in the day this might have been seen as an “In the tradition" statement for someone like saxophonist Jon Irabagon--last heard in freely improvised settings on I Don't Hear Nothin' But The Blues {Loyal, 2009), with drummer Mike Pride, and the RIDD Quartet's Fiction Avalanche (Clean Feed, 2008), or artful deconstructions of the Blue Note oeuvre with Mostly Other People Do The Killing. But such terms seem outmoded for young genre-busting musicians like Irabagon. With the 2008 Thelonious Monk ...
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