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Michael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Jack Bowers
Even though all but unsung outside his customary locale, Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill has drawn into his orbit a small but well-respected circle of jazz artists including bassist Rodney Whitaker, guitarist Randy Napoleon and trombonist Michael Dease, all of whom have recorded albums dedicated to Hill's diverse and sophisticated music. Found in Space is Dease's second homage to Hill, with a third one in the planning stages. Hill's compositions, which traverse the spectrum from straight-on jazz to ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Paul Rauch
Leaving a legacy in this life is a subject that holds different meanings for people. For some, it involves building a structure of permanence that will stand up to the test of time after one's entrance into eternity. For others, it is more fleeting, something that can be shaped and reshaped, and if desired, completely torn down. For some it is a function of building a monument to oneself. For others, like Central Michigan composer/arranger Gregg Hill, it is a ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space - The Music of Gregg Hill
by Bill Milkowski
The title itself is revealing. A clever play on words of the old '60s sci-fi show Lost in Space, it immediately suggests an irreverent wit and slightly twisted perspective; qualities that also permeate the unique music of prolific Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill. How this fairly obscure presence on the national music scene has managed to garner such a fervent following remains a mystery to those of us outside the Great Lakes State. Converts include bassist-educator Rodney Whitaker, Director ...
Continue ReadingSofia Goodman: Secrets of the Shore
by Jack Bowers
Secrets of the Shore, Nashville-based drummer Sophia Goodman's second album, is thematic, and its essential element is water. Goodman wrote or co-wrote the ten numbers, each of which is designed to induce in the listener's mind some aspect of water, from placid to turbulent, gentle to intense. As is true of all thematic enterprises, it rests with the listener to hear and appreciate what the composer has in mind. Goodman fares well in that respect, as her ...
Continue ReadingMatt White: The Super Villain Jazz Band
by Jeffrey Uhrich
In the midst of its long tradition as home of country music, Nashville is also home to a burgeoning and very vibrant jazz scene. Matt White and the musicians that comprise White's debut, The Super Villain Jazz Band, are proof that Nashville is generating world-class jazz musicians that can contend with any challengers from the east or west coast of the United States (and beyond). The Super Villain Jazz Band, is a collection of imaginative and deceptively complex compositions that ...
Continue ReadingFight the Big Bull: Dying Will Be Easy
by AAJ Italy Staff
Nelle interessanti note di copertina, Steve Bernstein, leader dei Sex Mob, associa ciascuno dei quattro brani di Dying Will Be Easy ad altrettanti capolavori della musica orchestrale, citando Black Saint and the Sinner Lady di Mingus, New Orleans Suite di Ellington, Communications ed Escalator Over the Hill di Mike Mantler oltre che Art Ensemble of Chicago, Archie Shepp ed altri, per il particolare tipo di formazione orchestrale utilizzato. Verissimo, e l'ascoltatore più attento e preparato riconoscerà pezzi di storia del ...
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