Jazz Articles about Lonnie Plaxico

Lonnie Plaxico: West Side Stories

by Jim Santella
July 2, 2006

Six original compositions and several familiar pieces give Lonnie Plaxico's eleventh album a heavy dose of spontaneity. With pianist George Colligan, drummer Kenny Grohowski, tenor saxophonist Gary Thomas, trumpeter Alex Norris and several influential guests on board, the session rocks hard with a contemporary edge.

The theme of West Side Stories points to the neighborhood where Plaxico grew up: Chicago's West Side. He was brought up with a wide variety of musical forms, from funk, groove and soul ...

Lonnie Plaxico: West Side Stories

by Mark F. Turner
May 29, 2006

West Side Stories, Lonnie Plaxico's eleventh recording as a leader, draws from memories of growing up in Chicago and listening to a variety of sounds from the '70s--R&B, popular music and smooth jazz--as well as his collaboration in the development of advanced M-Base musical concepts in the '80s. To coin a phrase from none other than the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, Plaxico might just be one the hardest working bassists in the business. He is a ...

Lonnie Plaxico

by Javier AQ Ortiz
May 14, 2006

Lonnie Plaxico's first recording on Blue Note is a treat for a musician who, in his early 40s, already has an exciting veteran career in jazz circles, although he played mostly R&B in Chicago. He left his native Windy City to come play for Wynton Marsalis. The famed trumpet player heard a demo tape from Plaxico and asked him, during Christmas, to come immediately to New York. Such a move, 20 years ago, led to gigs with Chet Baker, Dizzy ...

Matt Steckler: Persiflage

by Donald Elfman
March 1, 2006

The dictionary defines “persiflage as “light bantering talk or “a frivolous style of treating a subject. Saxophonist/flutist Matt Steckler's compositional style can seem slangy and almost casual, but repeated listens reveal a depth of color, a true sense of shape, and a brilliant mix of the improvisational and the written.For Persiflage Steckler has found players who know how to stretch the tradition as well as go beyond it. Jazz Passengers trombonist Curtis Fowlkes heads the front line with ...

Matt Steckler: Persiflage

by AAJ Staff
January 10, 2006

Matt Steckler is a young saxophonist, flautist, and composer with an edgy saxophone style. Judging from this recording, he's got some provocative ideas. However, he still seems to be developing his craft and his approach. Not to imply that Steckler lacks something technically--rather, to this reviewer he seems unformed, as if he's not certain of his direction, other than the fact that he wants to play jazz.

Steckler gets around the horn reasonably well, yet I find his alto sax ...

Lonnie Plaxico: Live at Jazz Standard

by John Kelman
May 9, 2004

The M-BASE Collective, when it first emerged in the ‘80s, championed a style that was about rhythmic unpredictability that was nevertheless mathematical in its precision, and a new way of looking at harmony that differentiated it from the post bop language of the young lions of the time. Bassist Lonnie Plaxico has the advantage of having worked seriously in both camps, and with his latest live release, Live at Jazz Standard he continues to straddle the line, although he clearly ...

The Lonnie Plaxico Group: Live at the Jazz Standard

by C. Michael Bailey
April 24, 2004

Bassist Lonnie Plaxico is perhaps best known for his associations with Greg Osby and M-Base, and for being the long-time bassist for Cassandra Wilson. He was the leader of several recordings made for the now static Muse label in the '80s and '90s. On January 29, 2003, Plaxico was leading an energetically funky sextet at New York City's Jazz Standard. The pieces populating this live disc are closer to Plaxico's Art Blakey experience than to his M-Base involvement. That is ...