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Jazz Articles about Miles Okazaki
Jane Monheit: Come What May
by Richard J Salvucci
Some reviews should be easy, particularly when the artist is established, celebrated, and universally esteemed. Almost anyone interested in contemporary jazz and pop singing knows Jane Monheit. Quoting SFJAZZ directly, “In 1998, Monheit was a finalist at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Vocals Competition, taking second to the late Teri Thornton. She recorded twelve albums, was a GRAMMY nominee for her 2004 Sony release Taking a Chance on Love, and has worked with Terence Blanchard, Ivan Lins, Michael ...
Continue ReadingOhad Talmor: Long Forms
by Glenn Astarita
New York City-based tenor saxophonist, composer, arranger Ohad Talmor and associates provide all the 'jazz' news fit to hear on this superb effort, comprised of thorny time signatures, shifting detours and offbeat mini-grooves, enamored with the leader's whizzing solos and more goodness. Acclaimed due to his arrangements for the late sax great Lee Konitz and affiliations with top-shelf musicians on a global basis, Talmor's multidirectional works often proceed with a semblance of micro-suites, embedded with simmering, odd-metered passages, and fluctuating ...
Continue ReadingOhad Talmor Newsreel: Long Forms
by Angelo Leonardi
Maturato accanto a Lee Konitz con cui ha inciso vari dischi in tre distinti progetti (il nonet del grande sax contralto, il Konitz-Talmor String Project e la big band a loro nome), Ohad Talmor è tra gli esponenti più creativi della sua generazione. La sua statura di compositore, supportata dalla formazione classica e dall'interesse per molte espressioni musicali, caratterizza il suo impegno nelle varie formazioni che guida: il trio, il sestetto, in nonetto e la big band. ...
Continue ReadingMiles Okazaki: The Sky Below
by Vincenzo Roggero
Tre quinti dei Five Elements di Steve Coleman più il pianista dei Snakeoil di Tim Berne sono roba da spellarsi le mani e The Sky Below, a tre anni di distanza da Trickster -acclamato debutto del quartetto con Craig Taborn al pianoforte, qui rimpiazzato per l'appunto da Matt Mitchell—non delude le attese. L'avvicendamento tra due fuoriclasse delle tastiere non mina gli equilibri della formazione guidata da Miles Okazaki ma l'utilizzo da parte di Mitchell di fender rhodes e sintetizzatore Prophet ...
Continue ReadingMiles Okazaki: The Sky Below
by Glenn Astarita
Electric guitarist Miles Okazaki—also using electronics—and his rhythm section comprise three-fifths of alto sax great Steve Coleman's current band, as keyboardist Matt Mitchell rounds out this quartet for the leader's second release for Pi Recrodings, but his fifth album overall. And while the album length is a little over 39-minutes, many artists are cutting back some to accommodate the resurgence of LPs. However, quality is the key as Okazaki's idiosyncratic playing and multitiered compositions yield the knockout punch, framed on ...
Continue ReadingTutto Monk: l'omaggio di Miles Okazaki
by Giuseppe Segala
Monk con la chitarra? Perché no. Si era posto la stessa sferica domanda Elliott Sharp pochi anni fa, registrando in solo con l'acustica l'album Sharp? Monk? Sharp! Monk! per l'etichetta Clean Feed. Si trattava di una scelta di cinque brani, elaborati con il criterio della lunga divagazione e riflessione geniale. Inoltre, il discorso era stato affrontato con altre strumentazioni aggiunte alla sei corde: ci aveva pensato tra gli altri il grande Paul Motian, prima affidando il compito a Bill Frisell ...
Continue ReadingMiles Okazaki: Work: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Monk
by Mark Corroto
The best way to embark upon Miles Okazaki's six-volume Work: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Monk is the same manner you might approach Herman Melville's American masterpiece Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. Like Moby-Dick with its 135 chapters (and epilogue), Work is a Brobdingnagian accomplishment. Okazaki performs the complete Thelonious Monk songbook. 70 tunes in total. The accomplishment here is not the 4 hours and 44 minutes of music, but Okazaki's dedication to the Monk oeuvre. The only other ...
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