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Ches Smith / We All Break: Path of Seven Colors
by Karl Ackermann
For some time, drummer/composer Ches Smith kept his interest in the Voudou music of Haiti at bay. Recognizing himself as an outsider in that world, he researched, listened, studied, and after years brought a project to fruition. Smith's group We All Break released their self-titled, self-produced debut in 2017 and received less attention than deserved. Now on Kris Davis' Pyroclastic Records, the outstanding Path of Seven Colors should produce wide recognition. Path of Seven Colors is a two-disc ...
Continue ReadingMiguel Zenón: Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman
by John Chacona
How do you hear Ornette Coleman's music? As an unlikely but logical extension of bebop vocabulary? As “free" chaos untethered from harmony? As a tributary of the great stream of Texas saxophonists? As jazz's purest melodism? The music of Coleman, who would have turned 91 years on March 9 2021, was all of those things and many more. Why shouldn't a body of work that presents so many points of entry be as ubiquitous on record as that ...
Continue ReadingMiguel Zenon: Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman
by Neri Pollastri
Da oltre un decennio autore di lavori di notevole qualità, spesso incentrati sulla rilettura della musica latinoamericana entro la quale è cresciuto—come nel recente El Arte Del Bolero, in duo con Luis Perdomo —, il contraltista di origini portoricane Miguel Zenon pubblica stavolta un omaggio a un Maestro assoluto del jazz al quale dichiara nelle note tutta la sua devozione: Ornette Coleman. Il disco è un live registrato al jazz club Bird's Eye di Basilea il 28 maggio ...
Continue ReadingEdward Simon: 25 Years
by Angelo Leonardi
Al pubblico del jazz non piacciono molto le compilations ma questa del pianista Edward Simon è speciale. I diciassette brani del doppio CD sono stati scelti da lui--come bilancio e riflessione personale nel 25° anno della sua attività da leader--e forniscono una variopinta retrospettiva delle sue tappe musicali. «L'idea mi è venuta l'anno scorso (2019) quando ho compito 50 anni--ha detto al Columbia Daily Tribune--La raccolta è nata da uno spirito di celebrazione e dalla consapevolezza di quante cose siano ...
Continue ReadingCésar Cardoso: Dice of Tenors
by Hrayr Attarian
The captivating and cinematic Dice of Tenors is Portugese saxophonist César Cardoso's fourth release as a leader. Cardoso has brought together an international octet of accomplished musicians for an eight track tribute to six saxophone giants including John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, and Benny Golson. In addition to six standards either penned or popularized by these legendary tenorists, there are two Cardoso originals which are in the same spirit as the covers. Cardoso's haunting “Rafaela" is constructed out of ...
Continue ReadingRaphaël Pannier Quartet: Faune
by Jerome Wilson
On his first recording as a leader, drummer Raphaël Pannier shows himself to be a musician who has one foot in the classical world and one foot in jazz. He leads his group in a set of original and classic compositions from both genres, maintaining a sense of formal grace and improvisational energy throughout. Pannier's quartet performs two familiar jazz tunes. A version of Ornette Coleman's “Lonely Woman" flows with somber intensity; Miguel Zenon's alto flies and Ben ...
Continue ReadingMiguel Zenon, Luis Perdomo: El Arte Del Bolero
by Angelo Leonardi
Dopo l'avvincente Sonero dedicato al songbook di Ismael Rivera--il grande cantante portoricano noto come El Sonero Mayor e amato in tutta l'America latina--il sassofonista Miguel Zenon sceglie una dimensione più intima, continuando però a scavare nelle memorie dell'infanzia. Il progetto è infatti dedicato a celebri bolero della tradizione, resi famosi da Benny Moré,Ray Barretto, Arsenio Rodriguez, Cheo Feliciano e dalla seducente cantante cubana Victoria Yolí Raymond, meglio nota come “La Lupe." «Queste non sono canzoni qualsiasi—ha commentato ...
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