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A Wind For All Seasons
by Dan Bilawsky
There is something positively elemental in the artistry of Martin Wind. Beyond being one of the music's premier bassists, he is a creatively driven composer and leader--a seemingly bottomless font of expression in action--and his work most certainly represents the breadth, and breath, carried in his name. One minute he's conjuring a Brazilian Nordeste with buoyant allure, the next he's evoking a warm and enveloping zephyr with his woody tones. His fertile imagination draws out föhns, sondos, mistrals, kogorashis, siroccos, ...
Continue ReadingMartin Wind: Stars
by Pierre Giroux
A chamber-jazz glow hangs over Stars a sessions featuring renowned bassist and composer Martin Wind, with a quietly luminous quartet including legendary pianist Kenny Barron, exceptional clarinetist Anat Cohen, and imaginative drummer Matt Wilson. The album feels less like a blowing date than a late-night conversation among old friends, where each phrase is weighted with warmth and meaning. The opening track is Aaron Bell's “Passing Thoughts," which conveys a blue-tinged melancholy told through a few carefully-chosen phrases. Cohen's ...
Continue ReadingTed Rosenthal Trio: High Standards
by Dan Bilawsky
Ted Rosenthal has remarkably high standards. How else to explain his vast achievement(s) over the past four decades? This ace pianist and composer has done it all--topped the pack at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, worked with the crème de la crème (i.e., baritone saxophone icon Gerry Mulligan, alto saxophone legend Phil Woods, multi-hyphenate Bob Brookmeyer, etc.), crafted over a dozen superb leader dates, penned a critically-acclaimed jazz opera (Dear Erich), fulfilled commissions for notable dance troupes, performed ...
Continue ReadingKen Peplowski: Live at Mezzrow
by Jack Bowers
When one is diagnosed with multiple myeloma, as woodwind specialist Ken Peplowski was in June 2021, there are basically two alternatives: either accept the decision and throw in the towel or choose to fight and double down on doing what keeps you active and hopeful, in this case making beautiful music that swings. Obviously, as epitomized by the album Live at Mezzrow, Peplowski chose the latter path, and three years on has apparently won the battle, at least for now, ...
Continue ReadingMartin Wind/Peter Weniger/Jonas Burgwinkel: Gravity
by Dan Bilawsky
All definitions of gravity lead to Martin Wind. The celebrated bassist embodies an undeniable force, exhibiting a certain pull and a centering importance in any scenario. Those strengths have served him well as a first-call foundation for the jazz elite and as a noted leader (or co-leader) on more than 20 albums, and they're magnified on this aptly titled trio date. Recorded in the fall of 2020 at the Berlin Jazz Institute, Gravity finds Wind building on ...
Continue ReadingMartin Wind, Peter Weniger, Jonas Burgwinkel: Gravity
by Mark Corroto
There is a return to old-school fundamentals about the trio recording Gravity from bassist Martin Wind. The German-born, now New Jersey native reconnects with tenor saxophonist Peter Weniger whom he met in the German National Youth Orchestra more than three decades ago. The old friends invited fellow countryman and drummer Jonas Burgwinkel (of Pablo Held Trio) to join, and deliver some 'alte schule' sounds. Wind, the bassist of choice for musicians such as Matt Wilson, Dena DeRose, and Bill Mays ...
Continue ReadingAnn Hampton Callaway: Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration
by Richard J Salvucci
Peggy Lee was a remarkable singer and songwriter, but to some listeners, deeply enigmatic. Her time, often well behind the beat, conveyed a subtle sense of irony. “Are you getting this?" she sometimes seemed to say, “or am I going too fast for you?" She could be exuberant and world weary almost in the same breath. It was seemingly up to the audience to decipher her meaning. Lee could convey expectation and experience simultaneously, as in her version of “Folks ...
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