Jazz Articles about Jonathan Saraga

About Jonathan Saraga

Album Review

Jon Gold: Things Are Looking Up

Read "Things Are Looking Up" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 8, 2026

On Things Are Looking Up, California-bred pianist and composer Jon Gold uses a dozen able musicians in groups of various sizes from duo to quintet to add color and spice to his generally harmonic and accessible post-bop themes. Four of these themes are tributes to those who have influenced Gold musically or personally, and the album opens with one: a quintet reading of the “For Rudy van Gelder," with sometimes strident solos by tenor saxophonist Kevon Scott and ...

Album Review

Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra: Things Will Pass

Read "Things Will Pass" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 29, 2024

There are a handful of things you should know about Hyeseon Hong (pronounced hay-sun hong), as each of them impacts the scope and purpose of the music on Things Will Pass. First, she is well-versed in the shaping and subtleties of contemporary big-band jazz; second, she was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea; third, she formed her own big band after relocating from Korea to New York City more than a decade ago; fourth, and perhaps most important, she ...

Album Review

Erica Seguine: The New Day Bends Light

Read "The New Day Bends Light" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
March 11, 2024

Impegnandosi nel ruolo di produttore, Darcy James Argue dà particolare considerazione al debutto discografico di quest'ensemble, fondato nel 2011 a New York dalle compositrici Erica Seguine e Shon Baker. La prima è anche arrangiatrice e guida dell'orchestra, la seconda entra nel cast come sassofonista. Dopo varie esibizioni in locali chiave della Big Apple, le due leader hanno selezionato sette composizioni originali dal loro repertorio, incidendole con un ampio organico comprendente talentuosi solisti della metropoli. Alcuni di essi ...

Album Review

Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra: The New Day Bends Light

Read "The New Day Bends Light" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 2, 2023

The New Day Bends Light, the debut recording by the twelve-year-old Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra, is interesting on a number of levels, not the least of which is emotional. The leaders and their twenty-one piece ensemble are clearly committed to the music and do their best to breathe life into each of the album's seven numbers, three of which were written by Seguine, three by Baker and the other ("Ose Shalom") by Nurit Hirsh. Aside from that, there is the ...

Album Review

Alex Heffron: Looking Out

Read "Looking Out" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
July 6, 2021

Based in Denver, Colorado, Alex Heffron is an imaginative guitarist and intelligent composer. His debut, the engaging Looking Out, demonstrates these talents amply. On it, Heffron leads a sextet consisting of like-minded musicians through an intriguing set of eight of his originals with elegant confidence and simmering passion. The title track opens the album with a charmingly effervescent mood. Over infectious rhythmic vamps, the frontline play the main theme with vibrant and muscular refrains. Heffron takes center stage ...

Album Review

Jonathan Saraga: Journey to a New World

Read "Journey to a New World" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
January 21, 2018

It's been five years since Jonathan Saraga's debut release, First Vision, but the trumpeter's sophomore album was worth waiting for. Saraga's precise and passionate technique, combined with thoughtful, well- constructed compositions (and a couple nicely-arranged cover tunes) make for a stimulating listen that rewards on a number of levels. The record's title captures the feel of the music well, as each track pursues its own distinctive path, often developing in unexpected ways that are melodically rich and rhythmically sophisticated.

Album Review

Jonathan Saraga Quintet: First Vision

Read "First Vision" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
January 2, 2013

When young artists release their first album, it's always tempting to say they “show potential" or “are off to a good start," but those comments tend to be kindly veiled takes on “you get an A for effort, but should have waited a bit longer." Jonathan Saraga need not worry about having such pacifying comments thrown his way; the trumpeter's First Vision isn't the stuff of amateurs on the brink of musical maturity, it's a stand-up-and-take-notice offering. ...