Jazz Articles about Michael Vlatkovich

Michael Vlatkovich Quartet: You're Too Dimensional

by Glenn Astarita
December 10, 2013

Longtime and prominent affiliate of California's progressive jazz sector, trombonist Michael Vlatkovich has nurtured strong relationships with multi-reedman Vinny Golia, tenor saxophonist Rich Halley and others of note. Yet Vlatkovich has long been considered as one of the finest improvising trombonist's within modern jazz and the avant-garde jazz spectrums. He's comfortable in a variety of settings, while recently cutting some vibrant trio outings for his independent label, Thank You Records. With this outing he reemerges with a quartet formation and ...

Vlatkovich Tryyo: Pershing Woman

by Glenn Astarita
December 25, 2012

Southern California-based trombonist Michael Vlatkovich leads a power-packed trio, captured live at a Michigan venue. The trombonist is firmly entrenched in the region's avant-garde and progressive jazz loop, alongside cohorts such as multi-reedman Vinny Golia, pfMentum Records proprietor and trumpeter Jeff Kaiser and other notables. Here, the trio generates a lot of positive hoopla and excitement as the live recorded sound contains a slight echo that hovers like an aura and summons an analog sense of purity. The ...

Michael Vlatkovich: Three3

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 7, 2009

L'ottimo trombonista americano Michael Vlatkovich (nato a St. Louis, nel Missouri, ma residente in California dal 1973) continua la sua corsa con progetti legati alla formazione in trio (che lui chiama tritet) registrata dal vivo, alternando immancabilmente la sezione ritmica. In questo caso ci troviamo a Denver, non troppo lontano dalla calda California che è il territorio di base di questi musicisti, anche se il Colorado è decisamente agli antipodi, almeno per quello che riguarda il clima e il modello ...

Transvalue: Book III - The '58 Retractable Hardtop

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 25, 2009

Difficilmente etichettabile questo Book III dei Transvalue, gruppo che il trombonista Michael Vlaktovich e il poeta e vocalist Chick Britt tengono assieme, con cadenze irregolari, da quasi trent'anni. L'aria che si respira è marcatamente zappiana, anche se le atmosfere musicali sono spesso prossime alle moderne big band. All'interno vi respirano jazz e poesia, pop e reading, assoli jazzistici non privi di forte lirismo e caos sfrenato, coretti tra l'ironico e il malinconico, passaggi di grande spessore. Difficile, se non impossibile, ...

Michael Vlatkovich: Across 36 Continents

by Mark Corroto
January 26, 2006

West Coast trombonist Michael Vlatkovich displays some mature yet nonconformist writing and arranging on Across 36 Continents. The eccentricities prepared for this ten-piece small orchestra make for fresh and at times freewheeling music-making. Then again, Vlatkovich is known for being a bit unconventional. His recent work has been in duets: Call And Response (pfMentum), with poet Dottie Grossman; and Chobraty (Nine Winds), with tubaist William Roper.

Here he enlists some of his usual suspects and playing partners: trumpeters ...

Michael Vlatkovich Tritet: Queen Dynamo

by Dan McClenaghan
February 23, 2004

It's hard to say how the average jazz fan comes to an appreciation of improvised music—and we're talking here spontaneous compositions, not merely an improvised solo in the middle of a mainstream song. One avid listener's introduction to the genre occured some years ago at a concert/lecture in a small state college auditorium. Two young musicians—bass and piano—held forth with a very interesting history of twentieth century jazz, from Louis Armstrong through Ellington and bop and fusion, playing examples of ...

Michael Vlatkovich: TorontoLive

by Mark Corroto
August 1, 2000

Whoever said that the saxophone most closely resembles the human voice probably never heard Michael Vlatkovich’s trombone. Actually Vlatkovich sounds a lot like my uncle Rocco. He always sounded a bit tipsy, even when he wasn’t drinking. When Rocco enters a room, everyone knows it, Blap, Fwap...everyone’s happy. When Vlatkovich speaks, er sings, it’s the same cavorting scale.

For this live date saxophonist David Mott and trombonist Tom Walsh augmented his quartet. The music is part Rahsaan Roland Kirk whirling ...