Jazz Articles about Marvin Stamm

Marvin Stamm Quartet: Alone Together

by Jerry D'Souza
December 9, 2007

The Marvin Stamm Quartet Alone Together Jazzed Media 2007

CD/DVD packages are still relatively unusual, but then the musicians responsible for this one are not your usual collection of players. Marvin Stamm (trumpet and flugelhorn), Bill Mays (piano), Rufus Reid (bass) and Ed Soph (drums) are a positive and cohesive force. They have been playing together for a long time, their first recording, The Stamm/Stoph Project (Marstam Music), released in 2000. Stamm ...

The Marvin Stamm Quartet: Alone Together

by Jack Bowers
November 15, 2007

Alone Together is not only another splendid album by trumpeter Marvin Stamm's quartet (does he ever produce anything less?), it also comes with a bonus--a DVD whose playing sequence duplicates the CD and allows one to see and hear Stamm, pianist Bill Mays, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Ed Soph as they study one another, alertly interact and carefully work things out in a concert taped on November 2006.

The quartet as it now stands has been performing together for ...

Donald Fagen: Morph the Cat

by Woodrow Wilkins
July 4, 2006

There's an engaging quality to Donald Fagen's songwriting and perfectionism that makes Steely Dan fans flock to his solo albums. While The Nightfly (1982) and Kamakiriad (1993) were expressly Fagen, Morph the Cat closely resembles Steely Dan without Walter Becker. The lineup partially reflects the ensemble that recorded the Dan's 2003 release, Everything Must Go, and toured with the group that year. The cast includes drummer Keith Carlock, guitarists Hugh McCracken and Jon Herington, and trombonist Lawrence Feldman. An assortment ...

Donald Fagen: Morph the Cat

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 28, 2006

Donald Fagen sta al rock come Duke Ellington stava al jazz. Non sarà per i continui attestati di stima che la mente degli Steely Dan spesso gli tributa, ma l’attitudine nella creazione e nell’arrangiamento, l’eleganza nella scelta timbrica e armonica, la condotta delle parti e la ricerca melodica come filo labile da cucire nella stoffa preziosa della song form, rimandano spesso agli insegnamenti di Ellington. L’altro elemento portante e decisivo è la letterarietà dei testi. A volte criptici, a volte ...

Donald Fagen: Morph The Cat

by Mike Perciaccante
March 10, 2006

Donald Fagen's third solo CD, his first such recording in thirteen years, blends jazz, soul, funk and just about every other musical influence you can name on nine new songs whose subject matter runs the gamut. The eclectic songs on Morph The Cat cover some interesting topics: a romantic interlude with an airport security guard ("Security Joan"); a conversation with the ghost of the late Ray Charles ("What I Do"); mortality ("Brite Nightgown"); and a cult taking over the US ...

Donald Fagen: Morph The Cat

by John Kelman
March 7, 2006

Sometimes tight-knit teams like Donald Fagen and Walter Becker--better known as Steely Dan--make it difficult to determine what each individual brings to the table. It's no secret that Becker and Fagen have strong jazz sensibilities, not to mention an affection for Tin Pan Alley, having started out as staff writers for ABC Records before realizing their music was too sophisticated for the artists they were writing for. But Fagen's previous solo albums--Nightfly (Reprise, 1982) and Kamikiriad (Reprise, 1993)--and Becker's 11 ...

The Marvin Stamm/Ed Soph Project: Live at Birdland

by Rick Bruner
June 28, 2005

There's often a vibe in live performance that isn't easily captured in the studio, especially when the musicians are highly accomplished jazz veterans performing before an appreciative audience. Trumpeter Marvin Stamm and drummer Ed Soph co-lead this wonderful band, recorded live at Birdland in New York City. Bassist Rufus Reid and pianist Bill Mays complete the quartet, which is augmented on four tunes by guitarist John Abercrombie. Stamm's warm, burnished tone on trumpet and flugelhorn melds wonderfully with the tight ...