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Patricia Brennan: Breaking Stretch

by Dan McClenaghan
On her first two albums, vibraphonist Patricia Brennan worked with a quartet comprised of three percussion instruments, herself on vibes and marimba, joined by percussionist Mauricio Herrera and drummer Marcus Gilmore, with a bassist Kim Cass. Momentum in large part, is the name of the game. For Breaking Stretch she expands her musical universe, adding trumpeter Adam O'Farrill and saxophonists Mark Shim and Jon Irabagon. This proved a good move; her musical universe in this septet setting has an energy ...
Continue ReadingPatricia Brennan: Breaking Stretch

by Mike Jurkovic
Wild-willed vibraphonist Patricia Brennan gets straight down to business without any fanciful mission declaration with the Afro-Cuban, effusively powered, clear-the-dancefloor and blow-the-ceiling-off this joint Los Otros Yo (The Other Selves)," the opening cut of her third album Breaking Stretch. She does so in a captivatingly, wickedly good way. Brennan--who has added much vitality to music by such other big thinkers as Vijay Iyer, Mary Halvorson, Anna Webber, Michael Formanek--began her musical education at 4 years old listening to ...
Continue ReadingTravis Reuter: Quintet Music

by Glenn Astarita
Released as the long-anticipated encore to his avant-garde debut, Rotational Templates (New Focus, 2011), Travis Reuter's Quintet Music is a masterpiece of musical sorcery, brimming with bold invention and innovative creativity. Reuter, a maverick guitarist who is unafraid to color outside the lines, leads his band of equally audacious virtuosos through a sonic wonderland that most musicians only dare to visit in dreams. The quintet, with Peter Schlamb swapping the traditional piano for the vibraphone, tosses the jazz ...
Continue ReadingBen Sidran: Don't Cry for No Hipster

by Luca Muchetti
'Stile' è il primo sostantivo che viene facile utilizzare per descrivere la musica di Ben Sidran. Nome notissimo nella scena americana, cantante, pianista, compositore e fine conoscitore della musica in toto (evitiamo di utilizzare l'etichetta 'jazz' memori anche del non troppo lontano album in tributo a Bob Dylan), con Don't Cry for no Hipster Sidran torna alle atmosfere fumose a lui più care: quattordici canzoni, tante, trovano spazio in un'opera che guarda alla tradizione, intimismi da jazz club e puntate ...
Continue ReadingCarlo De Rosa's Cross-Fade: Brain Dance

by AAJ Italy Staff
Il bassista Carlo De Rosa non è granchè noto da noi, ma a New York gode di un certo credito tra la comunità musicale. Come ambasciatore del jazz americano ha girato il mondo e si è costruito un'esperienza notevole che gli permette di maneggiare diversi stilemi della musica d'oggi. Il suo è un caso emblematico di strumentista aperto un po' a tutto, senza una poetica forte da proporre, interessato semmai a una sintesi elettroacustica, dove la tecnica è spesso preponderante ...
Continue ReadingMark Shim: Turbulent Flow

by Mark Corroto
At 26, saxophonist Mark Shim is living a dream life. Born in Jamaica, he moved to the US at age five. As a young man he was ‘discovered’ by baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett. He was soon a member of The David Murray Big Band, Betty Carter’s band, and the Mingus Big Band. His first recording, Mind Over Matter paired our hero with jazz punk guitarist Dave Fiuczynski. His toying with jazz tradition earned critical acclaim and a spot in the ...
Continue ReadingMark Shim: Turbulent Flow

by Jim Santella
Mark Shim’s modern mainstream quintet consists of first-rate artists who possess the technical skills necessary for fast-paced improvisation. This is not a swinging session; the arrangements are intended to push hard and provide the listener with a mood of intensity. The rambling nature allows each artist his solo spots with the opportunity to pump a lot of notes into this hard bop formula. A young lion, Shim was born November 21, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica. His parents moved to Canada ...
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