Jazz Articles about Mike Lorenz

About Mike Lorenz

Album Review

Following a period of change, upheaval and reflection in his personal life, Mike Lorenz says that this record demonstrates a new approach for him, reflecting both his roots in jazz and the fact that he has been listening to a lot of songwriters; writers such as Jeff Tweedy and Elliott Smith. The opening track “Where Do You Go?" certainly shows songwriterly dexterity in combining different harmonic and melodic ideas into a congruent whole. The trio setting is pure ...

Album Review

The Witherbees: Love Letter

Read "Love Letter" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
August 12, 2021

The Witherbees are a band from Philadelphia that mix folk, country, rock and jazz together into a stew of dreamy music that flows together easily into a distinctive sound. Instrumental tracks like “Mirage," “Cold Spell" and “Tribute Valley" are the most overtly jazzy ones on their album. On these, Mike Lorenz's guitar and Jacqui Armbruster's viola play against each other in a low-key swinging mode over the tumbling undercarriage of Justin Sekelewski's solid bass and Kyle Andrews' strutting ...

Album Review

Mike Lorenz & the Witherbees: Mike Lorenz & the Witherbees

Read "Mike Lorenz & the Witherbees" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
November 6, 2019

File Mike Lorenz and the Witherbees under folk, jazz or film soundtrack and they will have enough of the right sound not to seem terribly out of place. Okay, this moody debut isn't actually a soundtrack, but there is no reason why it shouldn't be if the right noir mind-bender were to come along. The quartet's musical blend is a thoughtful one, concerned much more with feel than genre; even when these songs are straightforward at heart, the arrangements rarely ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Mike Lorenz

by AAJ Staff
August 21, 2019

Meet Mike Lorenz: Mike Lorenz, guitarist/ composer/ educator, hails from Bethlehem, PA where he is a member of the music faculty at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts. For over a decade, Mike has kept a busy schedule as a freelancing performer, leading his trio/quartet in performances up-and-down the Northeast Corridor. He holds a steady residency at Tired Hands Brewing Company in Ardmore, PA, one of the top 50 breweries in the world, playing every Thursday night ...

Album Review

Mike Lorenz: speak between

Read "speak between" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 3, 2018

A first impression: Guitarist Mike Lorenz has created, on Speak Between, a sound that runs in a parallel to some of the albums released by drummer Paul Motian, in his teamings with guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano--It Should Have Happened A Long Time Ago (ECM Records, 1984) and Jack Of Clubs (Soul Note, 1984). These are sets that allowed the same freedom Frisell applied in his early albums under his own name, in the creation soundscapes and luminescent ...

Album Review

Mike Lorenz: Of The Woods

Read "Of The Woods" reviewed by Wade Luquet

by Wade Luquet
May 30, 2012

On his debut, Of The Woods, Philadelphia guitarist Mike Lorenz shows not only his guitar skills, but his gifted compositional talents as well. With an innovative sound combining modern, free, and bebop jazz styles, Of the Woods is an easy listen while, at the same time, pushing new boundaries of jazz. It is obvious, throughout this work, that this 27 year-old guitar virtuoso is pleased to share the time on his compositions with his very talented quintet including alto saxophonist ...