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Jonathan Finlayson: Moving Still
by Dan Bilawsky
If the title of trumpeter-composer Jonathan Finlayson's sophomore outing doesn't fully express his keenness in balancing conceptual grounding and rigor with fly-to-the-outer-limits expressiveness, the music certainly does. Moving Still--the highly anticipated follow up to Moment And The Message (Pi Recordings, 2013)--finds Finlayson doing what he does best: offsetting intricate lines and latticework with episodes of openness, tweaking thoughts in real time, and slicing through his own architectural creations to penetrating effect. It's a work of grand design and artistic authority, ...
Continue ReadingMary Halvorson Septet: Illusionary Sea
by AAJ Italy Staff
L'attuale settetto di Mary Halvorson inserisce un trombone e un sax tenore sul nucleo a cinque voci ascoltato, fra l'altro, all'ultimo Bergamo Jazz. I due strumenti aggiunti non fanno ovviamente che allargare quello spettro timbrico e dinamico che in una musica come questa, in cui l'elemento compositivo è assolutamente centrale, assume un'importanza-chiave. La cosa che può semmai colpire, ascoltando quest'altro bellissimo lavoro della chitarrista bostoniana, è come tale ampliamento si accompagni di fatto a una maggiore linearità, a percorsi per ...
Continue ReadingJonathan Finlayson: Moment and the Message
by Mark Corroto
The final scene from the 1998 cult classic movie, The Big Lebowski, has the cowboy narrator telling the audience: “Then, I happen to know that there's a little Lebowski on the way. I guess that's the way the whole durned human comedy keeps perpetuatin' itself, down through the generations, westward the wagons, across the sands a time."In jazz, musical knowledge also perpetuates itself through the generations, keeping its wagons rolling. Case in point: trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, who joined ...
Continue ReadingJonathan Finlayson & Sicilian Defense: Moment & The Message
by Glenn Astarita
Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson communicates a vibrantly rhythmic platform on Moment & The Message. His resume includes work with alto saxophone luminaries Steve Coleman and Steve Lehman; the album opener “Circus" is stylistically framed on pioneering woodwind legend Henry Threadgill's geometrically patterned compositions. But Finlayson rests on his own laurels with this debut solo effort. The set is highlighted by snappy detours, brisk arrangements, zigzagging pulses, and nimble interludes that offset the darting and impactful dialogues between the soloists.
Continue ReadingJonathan Finlayson: Moment and the Message
by Mark F. Turner
For those who've been watching the rise of trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson in recent years, his long awaited debut, Moment & The Message, not only displays his insightful playing and individualism but also some imposing composing skills. A prodigy who impressed pioneer saxophonist Steve Coleman when he performed in high school, Finlayson later moved to New York, attended The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and has thrived for ten years as a vital member of Coleman's iconic Five Elements ...
Continue ReadingJonathan Finlayson & Sicilian Defense: Moment & the Message
by AAJ Italy Staff
Correva l'anno duemila quando l'allora diciottenne Jonathan Finlayson - californiano di nascita, newyorchese d'adozione - fu reclutato da Steve Coleman. Da quel giorno la dedizione al signor M-Base è stata pressoché totale: tredici lunghi anni di concerti, viaggi, prove, dischi. Un'eternità considerando il proverbiale rigore del sassofonista di Chicago. Uno che ha la nomea di maestro con la reprimenda facile, che pretende un'adesione assoluta alla causa. Anche perché stiamo parlando di un pensatore alla Threadgill, alla Sun Ra, abituato a ...
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