Jazz Articles about Mike DiRubbo

like 124

Mike DiRubbo: Human Spirit

by David A. Orthmann
May 17, 2003

On his second Criss Cross release, alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo thrives on the challenges posed by a great rhythm section. Pianist David Hazeltine, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth, most notably of the cooperative sextet One For All, have lit a fire under dozens of significant jazz recordings over the past decade. Full of inspired interplay and subtle shifts in emphasis, their concentrated swing supports and provokes the soloist.

Regardless of the material or the tempo, the ...

like 169

Steve Davis: Systems Blue

by David A. Orthmann
May 2, 2002

Indicative of formative experiences in the bands of Art Blakey and Jackie McLean, as well as his current association with the cooperative sextet One For All, Steve Davis’ Systems Blue encompasses many of the characteristics of bop and hard bop without sounding stalled in a bygone era. On his fifth date for the Criss Cross label, the trombonist and prolific composer favors selections from the American Popular Songbook. While he frequently alters the forms and harmonic designs in engaging ways, ...

like 182

Mike DiRubbo Quintet: Keep Steppin'

by David A. Orthmann
June 1, 2001

One of the great pleasures of being a jazz fan is bearing witness as a young musician makes the leap from someone to watch to a powerful, not-to-be-missed performer. Therefore it is deeply satisfying to hear Mike DiRubbo, only two years after his promising debut on Sharp Nine, emerge withKeep Steppin’, a brilliantly realized recording for Gerry Teekens’ Criss Cross label. Loosely basing the music within the parameters of hard bop, DiRubbo takes this part of the jazz tradition and, ...

like 192

Mike DiRubbo: From the Inside Out

by Joel Roberts
May 1, 1999

As the title of his debut album on the Sharp Nine label suggests, alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo's musical imagination resides in that space between the mainstream and the avant-garde. It's no surprise, then, to learn that he's a former student of the great Jackie McLean, who, perhaps more than anyone, brought a tough, bebop and blues-based sensibility to the “new thing" experiments of the 1960s. Like McLean, DiRubbo pursues a mostly straight-ahead style with a clear respect for the jazz ...

like 280

Mike DiRubbo Quintet: From the Inside Out

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 1999

The proliferation of accomplished young saxophonists continues with New Haven native Mike DiRubbo's debut on Sharp Nine, which continues its admirable policy of promoting undiscovered but no less deserving talent. DiRubbo, now 28 years old, was only 23 when From the Inside Out was recorded in 1994. He'd already graduated from the Hartt School of Music, where he studied under alto master Jackie McLean, and was playing in the Explorer's Quintet with trombonist Steve Davis, his front'line companion here. Besides ...