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Dave Douglas Quintet: Songs Of Ascent Book 1—Degrees
by Dan McClenaghan
“Devotion is not a singular expression. I wanted to come at this from as many directions as the psalms do." Dave Douglas. Trumpeter Dave Douglas released one of the finest recordings of his career in 2010, Spark Of Being (Greenleaf Records), a musical immersion into Mary Shelley's pioneering horror & science fiction novel Frankenstein. Douglas is at his best when he bites into themes--Frankenstein, the films of Fatty Arbuckle, the music of pianist & composer Mary Lou Williams, ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina: Boiling Point
by Mike Jurkovic
For all its unstinting muscularity, feverish virtuosity and concentrated interplay, Canadian guitarist/oudist Gordon Grdina's first of two simultaneous summer releases, Boiling Point, could easily have been entitled Shock and Awe or Scorched Earth or perhaps even Ground Zero. Because as densely and wirily structured as these six Grdina comps are, Lower East Side piano legend Matt Mitchell and equally lauded drummer Jim Black bash away to the heart of matter, clearing the way for Grdina to crunch, skronk, and ruminate ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina's Nomad Trio: Boiling Point
by Dan McClenaghan
Even if Gordon Grdina does not release another album in 2022, the year should be considered as the time when it all came together for the Vancouver-based guitarist and oud-ist. Oddly Enough: The Music Of Tim Berne, Night's Quietest Hour and Pathways, all on Attaboygirl Records, were released in the first six month of 2022--a productive time. Add to that Boiling Point, the second outing by Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio. Grdina's artistry is hard to pin down. Free ...
Continue ReadingMiles Okazaki: Thisness
by Troy Dostert
A guitarist as freakishly talented as Miles Okazaki demands a listener's full attention. This is the case whether one is parsing his fiendishly complex compositions, or beholding his astonishing technique, or simply taking in all the shifting meters and grooves that permeate his music. From the remarkably ambitious Work (Volumes 1-6), his self-released solo document in 2018 of the complete works of Thelonious Monk, to his recent albums with his Trickster quartet, like Trickster (Pi Recordings, 2017) or The Sky ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Idiom
by Stefano Merighi
Già da oltre un decennio, la complessità della canadese Anna Webber (sax tenore, flauto, composizione) ci interroga sulla possibilità di compenetrare nel jazz di oggi mente e corpo, attitudine concettuale e abbandono rituale. Non è la prima, ovviamente, a lambire questi territori impervi. Si situa, forse, in una geografia sonora che parte da Cecil Taylor e attraversa le gigantesche ombre di Anthony Braxton e Henry Threadgill. Ma, velocemente, sta atterrando in un pianeta sonoro totalmente proprio, come dimostra questo doppio ...
Continue ReadingSara Schoenbeck: Sara Schoenbeck
by Karl Ackermann
Sara Schoenbeck is cast against type in the world of bassoonists. The versatile double reed, broad-ranged instrument dates to the Renaissance and is commonly found in wind ensembles and chamber orchestras. But Schoenbeck has brought her classical-leaning instrument to creative music in an electrifying body of work. Her self-titled leader debut is the first such project of her career. A series of nine duets allows Schoenbeck to fully explore the scope of the bassoon in close settings. Not ...
Continue ReadingMario Pavone: Blue Vertical
by John Sharpe
There is an inevitably tinge of sadness to Blue Vertical. Not because of any particular flavor of the music, but because, along with Isabella (Clean Feed, 2021) it's one of two final releases by bassist Mario Pavone, who died aged 80 less than two months after this March 2021 recording session. Pavone began his career in the '60s free scene, and became a stalwart of bandleaders as diverse as trumpeter Bill Dixon and saxophonist Thomas Chapin. In a ...
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