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Kim Cass: Levs

by Vincenzo Roggero
Cosa c'entrano Karlheinz Stockhausen, Arnold Schoenberg e Pierre Boulez con l'arte visiva e con l'inchiostro delle partiture? Ce lo spiega nelle sintetiche e un po' enigmatiche note di copertina lo stesso Kim Cass, bassista dalle frequentazioni eccellenti e dalla mente aperta. Poi, si sa, quello che conta è il risultato finale, dove la miscela degli ingredienti utilizzati deve risultare perfettamente amalgamata e cotta a puntino. Ed è quello che succede in Levs. A proposito di menti aperte, Kass ...
Continue ReadingFrank Carlberg Large Ensemble: Elegy for Thelonious

by Alberto Bazzurro
Dopo aver circumnavigato la musica di Monk in diversi contesti, prevalentemente come pianista in piccoli organici, Frank Carlberg, finlandese di nascita ma newyorchese a tutti gli effetti, affronta in questo suo ultimo, ambizioso lavoro l'ineffabile Thelonious da una prospettiva diversa: dedicandogli una serie di composizioni proprie ispirate a lui e alla sua arte così fuori da ogni ovvietà (non senza scampoli tematici acchiappati al volo e titolazioni spesso molto gustose ed emblematiche, da Scallop's Scallop" a Wrinkle on Trinkle," in ...
Continue ReadingChristine Correa: Just You Stand and Listen with Me

by Angelo Leonardi
«Il primo incontro con la musica di Abbey Lincoln l'ho avuto nel 1979 tramite Ran Blake, poco dopo il mio arrivo negli Stati Uniti--ha ricordato Christine Correa--. Non avevo mai ascoltato registrazioni così intense come la Freedom Now Suite e Straight Ahead. Il messaggio di Abbey era appassionato, espressivo, con un potere tutto suo. (...) Quella sua voce possente ha avuto un effetto duraturo su di me e la sua musica ha continuato ad essere una fonte d'ispirazione».
Continue ReadingFrank Carlberg Large Ensemble: Elegy for Thelonious

by Jerome Wilson
Pianist Frank Carlberg has been exploring the music of Thelonious Monk for some time, most specifically on his large group album, Monk Dreams, Hallucinations, and Nightmares, (Sunnyside, 2017). This new album has Carlberg returning to the large ensemble format for more Monk investigations, but this time approaching the work in a more splintered and abstract fashion. He does not simply interpret familiar Monk tunes. He writes compositions and arrangements which stitch Monk riffs and ideas into new fabrics, ...
Continue ReadingFrank Carlberg Large Ensemble: Elegy for Thelonious

by Mark Corroto
There was a sardonic saying circulating a few years ago that observed, It's Frank Sinatra's world, we just live in it." While that was a backhanded compliment, tailoring it to the subject of this large ensemble recording, we would call it a commendation. Pianist, composer, and conductor Frank Carlberg is telling us, It's Thelonious Monk's world, and (thank god) we live in it." Carlberg has been a disciple of Monk for decades, recording his music in a piano trio format ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra: Open Spaces

by Jerome Wilson
The subtitle of this album is Folk Songs Reimagined" and Daniel Hersog uses a very liberal meaning for the term folk song" here. He includes traditional folk songs on this album, in addition to familiar tunes by Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot and his own folk-based compositions. All are given a glistening polish in the sweeping cinematic arrangements which he writes for his orchestra, and are further enhanced by excellent solo work from a number of musicians. Hersog's ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Hersog: Open Spaces

by Jack Bowers
Locked down and socially distanced during the pandemic, composer-arranger Daniel Hersog had an interesting idea: rearrange some well-known and well-loved folk songs, most with Canadian roots, for jazz orchestra and throw in a handful of his own original compositions with a folk-tune ambience. The result is Open Spaces: Folk Songs Reimagined, the sophomore album by Hersog's Vancouver-based ensemble. As on his debut recording, Night Devoid of Stars (Cellar Music, 2020), Hersog welcomes a number of talented guest ...
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