Jazz Articles about Matt Vashlishan

About Matt Vashlishan

Album Review

Hot House West: Joy In Rhythm, Vol. I

Read "Joy In Rhythm, Vol. I" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 2, 2026

The fourteen-member Hot House West Swing Orchestra, enabled by Salt Lake City, Utah's nonprofit Hot House West, makes its recorded debut with Joy in Rhythm, Vol. 1, an array of eleven danceable songs, most of which were popular during the Swing Era's golden age in the 1930s and '40s. This is an album especially designed for dancing; it even includes a booklet that teaches the listener a number of simple dance moves tailored for beginners. In spite of ...

Album Review

Dave Liebman: Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane

Read "Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 4, 2021

It is always nice to have a goal in life, something that urges you to arise in the morning and face the day ahead. For saxophonist Dave Liebman, that goal means catching the “Trane" he has been chasing for more than sixty years--ever since, as a teenager, he first saw the legendary John Coltrane at Birdland in New York City. It is an admirable goal, made even more tantalizing because it is one that Liebman is quite sure he has ...

Album Review

Dave Liebman's Expansions: Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane

Read "Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
October 17, 2021

Finding one's inspiration in an iconic figure like John Coltrane presents a huge challenge for any musician. The sheer scope of the master's vision and the uniqueness of his instrumental voice can become overwhelming—particularly if the ultimate aim is to forge one's own path. But over a long and highly accomplished career, Dave Liebman has managed to do just that, even if it meant that for a time he had to break free of Coltrane's shadow by setting aside his ...

Album Review

Dave Liebman: Earth

Read "Earth" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
June 4, 2021

Dopo Water (1997), Air (2006) e Fire (2016), Dave Liebman completa il ventennale progetto volto a rappresentare in musica i quattro elementi naturali che danno origine alla materia, il cui riferimento è comune alle antiche cosmogonie occidentali e orientali. Come alcuni ricorderanno al primo disco parteciparono Pat Metheny, Billy Hart e Cecil McBee; al secondo Walter Quintus e al terzo Kenny Werner, Dave Holland e Jack DeJohnette. Stavolta Liebman sviluppa la sua musica col suo quintetto Expansions ...

Album Review

The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: The Third Quarter

Read "The Third Quarter" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
February 7, 2021

Flourtown, PA native Len Pierro unveils one monster big band album that will be reverberating well beyond the boundaries of Pennsylvania and from radio studios throughout the jazz landscape for quite a long time. The Third Quarter is The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra's recent offering and what an offering of fresh original compositions and re-imagined jazz standards it is. The 63-year-old saxophonist has produced one heck of an album of traditional straight-ahead swinging jazz that defines what ...

Album Review

The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: The Third Quarter

Read "The Third Quarter" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 9, 2021

Any big-band album that opens with a rollicking Four Brothers-style saxophone soli is all but guaranteed to capture one's ear and interest. As it turns out, the buoyant “Fill in the Gap," on which the sax section sparkles, is but the first of many sonic delights on The Third Quarter, a marvelous new CD by Philadelphia-based composer / arranger Len Pierro and his world-class Jazz Orchestra. Simply put, there are no discernible blemishes to mar a bright and picturesque tour ...

Album Review

Dave Liebman: Earth

Read "Earth" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
August 5, 2020

When saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Dave Liebman groks a musical vision, he dreams big and deep. “In the late 1990s," Liebman recalls, “I embarked on a project to musically depict manifestations of the four natural elements. In 1997 I recorded Water with Pat Metheny, Billy Hart and Cecil McBee; in 2006, I did Air with the late genius engineer Walter Quintus; fast forward to 2016 for Fire featuring Kenny Werner, Jack DeJohnette, and Dave Holland; finally, with my present group ...