Jazz Articles about Marty Kenney

About Marty Kenney

Album Review

If, for just 52 minutes, one needs to step away from the breach, do not hesitate to push play on Liminal. A Brooklyn conceptualist by way of Sweden and Seattle, “Andetag" (Swedish for “breath") opens flautist/composer Elsa Nilsson's Liminal. But, all things considered, it could have been sequenced anywhere in the playlist given Nilsson's nod to late-night dance floors. Elusive, bluesy and a very danceable dance of equals, Band of Pulses--Nilsson, fellow piano arsonist Santiago Leibson, wiry bassist Marty Kenney ...

Album Review

Yuhan Su: OVER the MOONs

Read "OVER the MOONs" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
February 16, 2026

Originaria di Taiwan, da sedici anni residente a New York, Yuhan Su confessa nelle brevi note di copertina di correre su due binari culturali distinti, di sognare in due lingue, di usare due distinte forme di logica, di avere due differenti standard di gusto per il cibo... Quinto album da leader, OVER the MOONs cerca di catturare queste “due lune" presenti nella sua mente, le sensazioni e i sentimenti delle due identità, traducendole in una scrittura che abbracci il dolce ...

Album Review

Yuhan Su: OVER the MOONs

Read "OVER the MOONs" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
January 13, 2026

It turns out that Patricia Brennan is not the only vibraphonist exploring ambitious concepts these days. On this album, Yuhan Su brings the idea of dual consciousness into music, with the musicians in her group often playing along two separate paths simultaneously. Su was born in Taiwan and is now based in New York. Living in both those cultures at once gave her the idea to explore that concept musically. There is constant motion and activity in ...

Album Review

Michael Sarian: Live at Cliff Bell's - Vol. II

Read "Live at Cliff Bell's - Vol. II" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
December 19, 2025

There was no reason whatsoever for listeners who enjoyed trumpeter Michael Sarian's terrific 2024 release, Live at Cliff Bell's (Shifting Paradigm Records), to feel short--changed. Capturing all the energy and excitement of a first-rate performance at the renowned Detroit jazz club from the previous year, the album traversed a wide spectrum of emotional registers and displayed the instrumental excellence which confirmed Sarian's standing as one of the premier talents of his generation. But what was left unmentioned at the time ...

Album Review

Michael Sarian: Live at Cliff Bell's

Read "Live at Cliff Bell's" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
September 28, 2024

This is music for the adventurous, especially those with the ears to deal with unusual harmonies. Michael Sarian is a now-Canadian trumpet player in the mold of Enrico Rava. His gift is his sound: dark, burnished, probing, even tentative at times. He is fond of half-valve expeditions into the upper register, which, if executed properly, can smear a tone between a squeal and a shriek. It is more than appropriate for the sort of music he plays, insinuating and beguiling, ...

Album Review

Michael Sarian: Live at Cliff Bell's

Read "Live at Cliff Bell's" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
September 24, 2024

On March 30, 2023, Michael Sarian rolled into Detroit landmark Cliff Bell's with horn in hand. In the midst of a spring tour, that particular venue and evening provided an opportunity for the trumpeter and his bandmates--pianist Santiago Leibson, bassist Marty Kenney and drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell--to do what they do best. Working through new material and strong selections from previous studio albums, this outfit delivered the goods with coiled intensity, some sturm-und-drang sophistication, open ears, sensitivity and melodic mindset. And ...

Album Review

Yuhan Su: Liberated Gesture

Read "Liberated Gesture" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
March 25, 2024

«Quest'album rappresenta la libertà che stavo cercando--dice Yuhan Su--una variante di me più raffinata e un messaggio sul periodo in cui ci troviamo». Giunta al quarto disco in un decennio d'attività professionale a New York, la vibrafonista taiwanese conferma d'essere una strumentista di prim'ordine e soprattutto una compositrice e leader innovativa, in equilibrio tra post-bop e avanguardia. I segni erano evidenti nel suo precedente album per la Sunnyside (City Animals, 2018) inciso con un quintetto differente, dove ...