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Jazz Articles about Kenny Wollesen
Emi Makabe: Echo
by Angelo Leonardi
Conferma il quartetto del suo esordio (Anniversary Greenleaf 2018) la cantante a strumentista giapponese Emi Makabe, con l'aggiunta di tre prestigiosi ospiti: il chitarrista Bill Frisell, il pianista Jason Moran e la bassista Meshell Ndegeocello, che interviene declamando alcuni testi. Anche in quest'album s'incrociano stilemi giapponesi e jazzistici in una miscela generalmente delicata e suadente, anche se non mancano momenti ritmicamente articolati. Emi Makabe ha una voce da soprano leggero, canta con raffinata essenzialità e interviene suonando lo ...
Continue ReadingPitch, Rhythm and Consciousness: Sextet
by Alberto Bazzurro
Dopo un primo album in trio (2011) e un secondo in quartetto (2019), Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness, il gruppo fondato da Tony Jones e Charlie Burnham (qui impegnato nei primi due brani anche alla voce) si amplia a sestetto per questo suo nuovo lavoro (inciso alla fine del 2023), evidenziando specificità di organico (e quindi timbriche e nel contempo dinamiche) assolutamente nuove, raddoppiando anzitutto i sassofoni tenore, che non disdegnano cavalcate a due voci di sicuro appeal (anche senza accompagnamento ...
Continue ReadingPitch, Rhythm and Consciousness: Sextet
by Thierry De Clemensat
Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness is a collective of musicians who stand among the most representative of the New York jazz scene in 2025. Initially formed as a quartet, the group was founded by Tony Jones and Charlie Burnham, two of the most captivating artists of the ensemble, who are later joined by Kenny Wollesen, Marika Hughes, Jessica Jones and Rashaan Carter. Given the group's initial configuration, it is evident that their music and compositions are not meant for ...
Continue ReadingKenny Wollesen: LATRALA
by Glenn Astarita
When a February 2022 gig at John Zorn's experimental showcase The Stone was unexpectedly canceled due to Covid protocol, Wollesen seized the lemon juicer and booked the band into Shahzad Ismaily's famed Figure 8 studio in Brooklyn for the following two days. The session was engineered by Lily Wen and produced by Will Shore, a composer who plays vibes alongside Wollesen in the utopian art-jazz group Užupis. Playing together for the first time, LATRALA recorded nearly the entire album and ...
Continue ReadingWelf Dorr, Elias Meister, Dmitry Ishenko, Kenny Wollesen: So Far So Good
by Glenn Astarita
Germany-reared saxophonist Welf Dorr has been a fixture in the New York City avant-garde jazz scene since 1995 and brings his distinctive blend of experimental and free jazz to life with this album. Dorr has been a relentless innovator, merging elements of blues, jazz and rock into his compositions. As leader of his group, Welf Dorr Unit, he has consistently pushed the boundaries of modern jazz. With So Far So Good, he continues this tradition, delivering a collection that is ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by John Sharpe
Even though pianist Sylvie Courvoisier has bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen on hand for Chimaera, the six-piece band is a long way from being merely the storied threesome, which made Double Windsor (Tzadik, 2014), D'Agala (Intakt, 2018) and Free Hoops (Intakt, 2020), plus added guests. As she explains in the liners, the music was originally commissioned for the 2021 Sons d'Hiver festival in Paris and was inspired by the surreal works of French Symbolist artist ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by Troy Dostert
It says something about pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's current profile in creative jazz that she could assemble such a distinguished ensemble for her latest release, Chimaera. Augmenting her usual trio of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen are trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Nate Wooley, and with the always interesting Christian Fennesz completing the group on guitar and electronics, one would expect extraordinary results. And so they are--worthy of a lengthy, two-CD treatment, in fact. Courvoisier's work with ...
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