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Kevin Hays & Lionel Loueke: Hope
by Geno Thackara
It would have been easy to leave well enough alone. Kevin Hays and Lionel Loueke made a delightful recording the first time around—a most happy clash of hemispheres blending urban jazz and world-folk balladry, crossing upbeat piano with lively scat-singing, frisky African rhythm play and much more. Nonetheless, a slot with Edition Records offered them a chance to revisit the work and give it a wider release than its initial 2017 vinyl pressing on the Newvelle Records subscription label. Let's ...
Continue ReadingKevin Hays / Lionel Loueke: Hope
by Karl Ackermann
New York/Paris-based Newvelle Records, the vinyl-only subscription label, is well into its second season of six planned releases. The second of these albums is the Kevin Hays and Lionel Loueke duo outing, Hope. Pianist Hays plays with his namesake trio as well as the Bill Stewart Trio and has worked with Sonny Rollins, Benny Golson, Ron Carter, Joe Henderson, Roy Haynes, John Scofield, Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau and many others. Lionel Loueke is a Benin native who holds a Jazz ...
Continue ReadingOlivier Le Goas: Reciprocity
by Dan McClenaghan
Matt Cibula, writing for All About Jazz, wondered in his review of French drummer Olivier Le Goas' Gravitation (Altrisuoni, 2007): “Who the heck is Olivier Le Goas...?" indicating perhaps a paucity of information about the leader, even in this day of Internet info overload. Nine years later there still isn't much on-line scoop about the man. So we go with the music. Gravitation, an all-star quartet affair featuring guitarist John Abercrombie, trumpeter Ralph Alessi and bassist Drew Gress, ...
Continue ReadingKevin Hays New Day Trio: North
by Dan Bilawsky
The second album from the Kevin Hays New Day Trio does and doesn't follow in its predecessor's footsteps. On one hand you can argue that it's completely different, as Hays doesn't sing on this one and there are no guests to speak of here; on the other, you can certainly opine that the overt lyricism in this music, forged through Hays' fingers and enhanced by the extremely interactive and empathetic team of bassist Rob Jost and drummer Greg Joseph, is ...
Continue ReadingKevin Hays: New Day
by Luca Muchetti
Jazz ma ancora più soul e funk segnano il ritorno in studio di Kevin Hays, il quarantasettenne pianista newyorkese che per la Sunnyside licenzia questo piacevole New Day, album da gustare tutto d'un fiato lungo le 12 tracce che, insieme a tanti brani originali, includono anche un paio di cover eccellenti. La parata si apre con una grooveggiante “Run of the Sun," strumentale che richiama senza troppi imbarazzi la grande tradizione rhythm'n'blues dando un assaggio, ma solo ...
Continue ReadingKevin Hays: Creative Flow
by George Colligan
[ Editor's Note: The following interview is reprinted from George Colligan's blog, Jazztruth]If you aren't familiar with pianist Kevin Hays, you should be. He's recorded and toured with many of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. And those who call him can't seem to get enough of him. His recent projects as a leader on Artistshare have been stunningly beautiful. I've been a fan ever since I came to New York. I heard him with Eddie Henderson's ...
Continue ReadingKevin Hays: Variations
by Dan Bilawsky
When famed jazz scholar Gunther Schuller first coined the term “Thematic Improvisation," he wasn't introducing a new concept so much as shedding light on how jazz artists had come to use the age-old “Theme And Variations" format in their own sweet way. While nobody would argue that grand compositional gestures or outré improvisations from a master musician can be revealing, hearing an artist dissect and rebuild a musical theme on the spot is the real window into their mind. A ...
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