Jazz Articles about Julian Priester

Julian Priester

by AAJ Staff
January 12, 2004

Submitteed on behalf Jonathan Davidson. When you hear the name Julian Priester, you probably think of all of the amazing recordings in which the jazz trombonist participated. You may also wonder what he’s been up to in the past couple of decades. He last visited our fair city some 5 years ago. Fortunately, he will break that musical fast in a matter of weeks and, to be sure, he has been very busy over the last 25 ...

Freddie Hubbard: Hub Cap (RVG Edition)

by Robert Gilbert
February 24, 2003

As was customary with Blue Note releases during the 1950s and '60s, the names of the musicians performing on Hub Cap are listed on the album’s front cover. The name of Freddie Hubbard, the leader, is--not surprisingly--most prominent. However, the factor that elevates Hub Cap a notch above similarly styled LPs released at the time is the fifth name listed under Hubbard’s: drummer “Philly” Joe Jones.Within a minute of the opening title song, Jones has made his presence ...

Julian Priester: In Deep End Dance

by AAJ Staff
February 4, 2003

Since his mid-'90s recordings with Sam Rivers and Reggie Workman, trombonist Julian Priester has maintained a low profile, his voice sorely missed. Well established through his work with Sun Ra, Dave Holland, Max Roach, and Herbie Hancock, the trombonist (approaching his late 60s) seemingly has recovered fully from the liver transplant surgery he underwent in 2000. His new recording, In Deep End Dance, thankfully proves his relative silence is a thing of the past. Recorded just over 40 years after ...

Freddie Hubbard: Hub Cap (RVG Edition)

by Richton Guy Thomas
January 26, 2003

Freddie Hubbard brought a beautiful tone and an instinct for swing to Hub Cap. This record came out in 1961, three years before Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch and four years before Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage : two significant titles in the library of America's improvised music which feature a consequential role by Hubbard.Freddie Hubbard leads a particularly talented sextet on this reissue. Four of the six compositions are Hubbard originals; two numbers were composed by Cedar Walton, ...

Julian Priester: In Deep End Dance

by Jerry D'Souza
December 8, 2002

Julian Priester has been a presence on several outstanding recordings from Dave Holland, Anthony Braxton, Sun Ra, and Booker Little--to name a few--besides playing in the bands of Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. His role as a leader has been very limited, and a new album where he leads a band of talented musicians is definitely welcome.

Priester moulds a song with craft. He leads with a slow development of the theme, almost a lazy excursion into the ...

Julian Priester & Sam Rivers: Hints on Light and Shadow

by Glenn Astarita
February 1, 2000

Man vs. Machine was a common phrase or term often heard during the infancy of analog synthesizers, especially when jazz and/or classical artists decided to meld acoustic instruments with electronics. Saxophonist-composer-improviser Anthony Braxton’s infamous and often intriguing duets with synthesist Richard Teitelbaum come to mind, yet history dictates that many of these engagements in general, represented nothing other than mere experiments featuring little if any musical value. On Hints on Light and Shadow, renowned jazz luminaries – saxophonist Sam Rivers ...

Ralph Simon and Magic Club: Music for the Millennium

by Glenn Astarita
November 1, 1999

Music for the Millennium is saxophonist/composer Ralph Simon’s second release for the Postcards label which in case you haven’t heard was an admirable early to mid 90’s jazz label featuring the creme de la creme of the jazz world. Thankfully, Arkadia Records has acquired the Postcards catalogue resulting in a venerable crop of reissues featuring the original artwork, and liners. Here Ralph Simon and “Magic Club” pursue an aggressive conceptual approach that articulates free-jazz, ethereal sonic soundscapes combined with ethnocentric ...