Jazz Articles about Jon Raskin

About Jon Raskin

Album Review

Jon Raskin Quartet: Up & Down, Sideways

Read "Up & Down, Sideways" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
September 16, 2021

Innovative saxophone improviser Jon Raskin continues to put out, on his own label Temescal, never before released sessions from his catalogue. The intriguing Up & Down, Sideways finds him in a quartet with long standing associates, a group that Raskin himself calls the most significant in his career outside of Rova. This short album consists of a dozen, stimulating, electronically enhanced soundscapes that unfold with an eerie charm. On “(Plot Line) Allow for Tenderness," Raskin plays a wistful ...

Album Review

Jon Raskin: Goodheart Raskin Tarasov Trio

Read "Goodheart Raskin Tarasov Trio" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
September 11, 2021

Saxophonist Jon Raskin thrives in collaborative settings. An intrepid improviser and originalist, Raskin is perhaps best known for his association with the innovative Rova Saxophone Quartet. He has, however, made several albums with other equally adventurous musicians. The 2021 Goodheart Raskin Tarasov Trio finds him in good company with pianist and sound artist Matthew Goodheart and drummer Vladimir Tarasov of the legendary Ganelin Trio,. Recorded between 2011 and 2013 these six pieces have a remarkable thematic cohesiveness. Overall, ...

Multiple Reviews

Jon Raskin: Hotel Noctambulo and Live at NIR Studios

by Hrayr Attarian
August 7, 2021

The years 2020-2021 have been productive for saxophonist and musical innovator Jon Raskin. A long-time member of the ground breaking ensemble, Rova Saxophone Quartet, Raskin has released ten recordings over an 18 month period. A few are solo works, others are the result of remote collaborations due to the Covid19 pandemic and some are never-before-issued past sessions. Two of these albums, both duets, are discussed below. They reflect Raskin's unique brilliance and his creative range. Jon Raskin ...

Album Review

Jon Raskin: Book 'P' of Practitioners

Read "Book 'P' of Practitioners" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
June 6, 2021

Saxophonist Steve Lacy was famous for writing music dedicated to artists who inspired him. Some of his rarely heard etudes for solo saxophone are divided equally into three books, each named by a letter. Of these, he only recorded one set in his lifetime, Hocus Pocus—Book 'H' of “Practitioners" (Crépuscule, 1986). Equally idiosyncratic saxophonist Jon Raskin, who considers Lacy a major influence, released the two other books, P and H, in 2021 on his own Temescal label .

Album Review

Georg Graewe, Kjell Nordeson, Jon Raskin Trio: Live at NIR Studios

Read "Live at NIR Studios" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
May 15, 2021

In 2009 the innovative saxophonist Jon Raskin teamed up with like-minded pianist Georg Graewe and drummer Kjell Nordeson for an electrifying concert which, in a curious foreshadowing of 2020, was live-streamed online. This was Raskin's third performance on internet radio, and he released the resulting recording, the provocative Live at NIR Studios, as a digital download in March of 2021. The five interconnected, spontaneous compositions, each bearing a mysterious and intriguing title, brim with vibrant and dramatic tension. ...

Album Review

The Flatland Quartet: Songs From The Urban Forest

Read "Songs From The Urban Forest" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
March 18, 2021

The members of The Flatland Quartet are not only accomplished improvisers, they are socially aware artists. Their activism permeates Songs From The Urban Forest. This is not only because the proceeds from its sale will be donated to the Sacramento Food Bank. All six interrelated pieces are simultaneously abstract and earthy, marked by a sublime balance of the cerebral and the emotive. Opening the set is “Joe Hill's Last and Final Will." It is built around the poem ...

Album Review

Jon Raskin: Synergy Signals

Read "Synergy Signals" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
March 16, 2021

Saxophonist Jon Raskin does not need an introduction as he is one of the most accomplished improvisers alive today. Both as a member of the renowned Rova Saxophone Quartet and with his other ensembles, Raskin has been at the forefront of creative music for over four decades. On the brilliant Synergy Signals, he joins forces with two intrepid Bay area artists, pianist Chris Brown and bassist Jason Hoopes, as well as the venerable Russian drummer Vladimir Tarasov for a genre-defying ...