Jazz Articles about Mark Isaacs

Mark Isaacs: Visions

by Ken Kase
May 28, 2006

Mark Isaacs, whose impressive resume includes associations with jazz greats such as Kenny Wheeler and Roy Haynes, as well as extensive forays into classical performance and composition, presents quite a puzzler with Visions. While it's certainly refreshing to see a capable musician take on popular tunes written after 1960, the album ultimately yields mixed results.Purists might argue that popular tunes written during the rock era are too harmonically static to warrant serious exploration. But such stasis certainly gives ...

Mark Isaacs: Visions

by John Kelman
April 24, 2006

Some people insist that contemporary music offers little grist for the imagination, but increasing numbers of jazz artists are proving that's simply not so. From Brad Mehldau to Dave Douglas and Herbie Hancock, new takes on material by artists as diverse as Radiohead, Nick Drake and BjÃrk are becoming an everyday occurrence.

Add Australian-based Mark Isaacs to the list of artists who are reinventing contemporary song. Isaacs, a pianist/composer who is equally comfortable in classical and jazz worlds--that, in itself, ...

Mark Isaacs: Keeping the Standards

by John Kelman
June 7, 2004

Following up his 2000 release, Closer , Australian pianist Mark Isaacs turns away from original composition and instead examines the Great American Songbook in a programme of standards featuring bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Adam Nussbaum. The result is a marked reinvention of pieces including Hoagy Carmichael's “Skylark" and the Bernstein/Sondheim classic, “Somewhere."

A true multidisciplinary artist who is equally at home with classical composition/performance, soundtrack work and jazz, Isaacs's cerebral approach echoes that of Brad Mehldau. He is blessed ...

Mark Isaacs: Keeping The Standards

by C. Michael Bailey
May 17, 2003

Mark Isaacs' last recording, Closer , was one of 2000's jazz highlights. This contemporary jazz bristling with fresh ideas and razor sharp vision made several critics’ top ten lists. Three years later, Mr. Isaacs returns to experiment with the fertile ground of jazz standards on his trio live recording Keeping The Standards. Recorded at the Basement Lounge in Sydney, the Aussie is joined by bassist Jay Anderson (most recently of Lynne Arriale’s fine trio) and drummer Adam Nussbaum (stix for ...

Mark Isaacs: Closer

by C. Michael Bailey
January 1, 2001

Naxos Jazz releases an exceptional contemporary jazz disc in Mark Isaacs' Closer. This disc joins the critic's short list of the best Naxos Jazz releases.

It has been easy for me to grow complacent when hearing new Naxos Jazz releases. As a rule, they have all proven interesting and listenable and very representative of the current state of Jazz. However, a couple of Naxos releases have come along that really impressed me and made it on my short-short list of ...

Mark Isaacs: Closer

by C. Michael Bailey
January 1, 2001

Naxos Jazz releases an exceptional contemporary jazz disc in Mark Isaacs' Closer. This disc joins the critic's short list of the best Naxos Jazz releases.

It has been easy for me to grow complacent when hearing new Naxos Jazz releases. As a rule, they have all proven interesting and listenable and very representative of the current state of Jazz. However, a couple of Naxos releases have come along that really impressed me and made it on my short-short list of ...