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Jazz Articles about Karolina Strassmayer
About Karolina Strassmayer
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
Bob Mintzer & WDR Big Band Cologne: Soundscapes
by Jack Bowers
Saxophonist Bob Mintzer, a New Yorker who left home long ago to see the world, is a professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and chief conductor of the world-class WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany, with whom he has recorded Soundscapes, a luminous showcase for his singular talents as composer, arranger and soloist. As anyone who is familiar with Mintzer--through big-band recordings, his quartet the Yellowjackets or other avenues--clearly understands, he will ...
Continue ReadingScott Whitfield & Friends: A Bi-Coastal Christmas
by Jack Bowers
If trombonist Scott Whitfield's A Bi-Coastal Christmas cannot quicken your inner holiday spirit, that will not be for lack of trying. Whitfield uses every ribbon in the packet and every tool in the shed to help make the season bright, from big band to quintet, from duo to solo (Whitfield's trombone all by itself). Two of the selections were recorded in 2004, four others in 2005, whereas Whitfield's brace of solo tracks was taped in 2020 as he cast off ...
Continue ReadingDave Stryker: Blue Soul
by Jerome Wilson
Germany's WDR Big Band has welcomed a great variety of musicians such as Fred Hersch, Michel Camilo, Ambrose Akinmusire and Jimmy Heath as guest soloists over the years. On this occasion they provide an invigorating backdrop for the springy and soulful guitar of Dave Stryker. The set list on this CD finds Stryker and the band tackling a combination of vintage pop and soul hits and the guitarist's original compositions, all arranged and conducted by saxophonist Bob Mintzer. ...
Continue ReadingDave Stryker with Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band: Blue Soul
by Jack Bowers
Bob Mintzer had an idea. The renowned tenor saxophonist, who serves as principal conductor of Cologne, Germany's world-class WDR Big Band, had made several appearances as guest artist with guitarist Dave Stryker's New York-based organ trio and was so impressed that he thought it would be a good idea to re-orchestrate some of Stryker's music for big band and invite the guitar maestro to return the favor by traveling to Germany and performing as guest artist with the WDR ensemble, ...
Continue ReadingKarolina Strassmayer and Drori Mondlak: Of Mystery and Beauty
by Hrayr Attarian
Over the past decade and a half Austrian saxophonist Karolina Strassmayer has established herself as a superbly consummate musician. Her multifaceted compositions are always subtly, engagingly inventive and brim with brilliant wit and lyricism. As an improviser she plays with a reserved intensity and a captivating and suave spontaneity. Her seventh release Of Mystery and Beauty showcases again her unique style that has matured and ripened without losing any of its vibrant energy. Like all of Strassmayer's previous ...
Continue ReadingKarolina Strassmayer and Drori Mondlak: Small Moments
by Hrayr Attarian
Altoist Karolina Strassmayer and drummer Drori Mondlak's second release as co-leaders Small Moments is a collection of lean and gripping original compositions that the superlative quartet embellishes with their sophisticated and inventive spontaneity.One of the unifying themes of this engaging album is a melodic and contemplative narrative sense. The intimately nocturnesque “Seven Minutes in Heaven" conjures up the urban romanticism of city nightlife. Strassmayer's ardently undulating saxophone shimmers with muted colors in the intriguingly dark ambience. The rhythm ...
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