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Jazz Articles about Ken Filiano
Jason Kao Hwang: Myths of Origin
by Jerome Wilson
Violinist and composer Jason Kao Hwang has worked with groups of every size, from duos up to full orchestras. “Myths of Origin" is one of his large-scale pieces, an imposing 42-minute work for an improvising string orchestra and drum set. It runs without interruption, but the recording breaks it down into nine sections. The music starts slowly, rising in a mass of seething bowed strings with a slight trace of Asian melody. It progresses into a dense cloud ...
Continue ReadingStephen Gauci / Santiago Leibson / Ken Filiano / Vinnie Sperrazza: Live At Scholes Street Studio
by John Sharpe
On another missive from the bleeding edge, tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci further documents his fertile alliances in Brooklyn. In a quartet alongside the reedman are Argentinean pianist Santiago Leibson, veteran bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza. Gauci's signature blend from the further reaches of the saxophone--stretching from caustic upper register to burly bottom end--remains a central feature. But on the two off-the-wall pieces, one broaching the half hour mark, the other just over 20 minutes, he promotes an ensemble ...
Continue ReadingAndrea Wolper: Wanderlust
by Jerome Wilson
Andrea Wolper is an active jazz singer, composer, and educator but this album is her first recording since 2011. On it, she reestablishes herself as a creative vocalist and arranger who can excel in many different styles. She also benefits from the support of excellent musicians such as reed player Jeff Lederer and violinist Charles Burnham. Wolper performs several of her own compositions as well as tunes by others such as Abbey Lincoln and Carole King. Among her ...
Continue ReadingAndrea Wolper: Wanderlust
by Dan Bilawsky
Itinerant creatives manifest in both literal and figurative terms. Yes, they most clearly present in true formal fashion, traveling from place to place, sharing their art wherever they may roam. But their venturesome virtues extend to the interior, too. In fact, what's often of the greatest importance and interest is the roving surrounding and propelling their work--exploration of narrow paths, walks through obscured alleys and hideaways, and time spent in secret sanctums that offer peace and space to think in ...
Continue ReadingIDR - Italian Doc Remix: Pandemonium
by Neri Pollastri
Chitarrista e compositore campano da tempo trasferitosi a New York, Marco Cappelli da qualche anno ha messo in piedi, assieme al percussionista italo-americano Jim Pugliese, una formazione denominata IDR, Italian Doc Remix, composta in larga parte da italiani residenti negli Stati Uniti o da italo-americani, con i quali “gioca" con la tradizione delle sue terre, rinnovandola con strumenti e arrangiamenti contemporanei che attingono ampiamente a stilemi jazzistici senza abbandonare forme espressive tradizionali, ma anche filtrandola attraverso il modo in cui ...
Continue ReadingWeFreeStrings: Love In The Form Of Sacred Outrage
by Mark Corroto
History does repeat itself, violist Melanie Dyer draws from the same well of inspiration as Max Roach's We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite (Candid, 1961). Maybe better put, history reveals Martin Luther King's arc of the moral universe has only bent a few degrees in the past sixty years. With Love In The Form Of Sacred Outrage, the ensemble WeFreeStrings follows up their debut Fulfillment (self released, 2018). Dyer, a classically trained violist, found inspiration in the music ...
Continue ReadingJason Kao Hwang: Human Rites Trio
by Mike Jurkovic
Chattering dances. That's the first image that springs to mind when encountering Human Rites Trio, the fascinating new music from prolific violinist/composer Jason Kao Hwang and his rhythmic, shapeshifting compatriots, drummer Andrew Drury and bassist Ken Filiano. Building on a freneticism all their own, the opening two-part suite “Words Asleep Spoken Awake" is a hyper-active, many headed hydra of spontaneous interplay. Counterpoint groove and muscle memory all come into play with Hwang's sound moving from mournful strains to ...
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