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Jazz Articles about Neil Hemphill

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Album Review

Chris Varga: Breathe

Read "Breathe" reviewed by Jack Bowers


It is always refreshing to hear a talented vibraphonist seducing the mallets while leading a band, as is true on Breathe, Chris Varga's second recording, and the first in the U.S., following 2023's Vichara on South Korea's Mung Music label. Varga, who has been living and performing in Seoul for more than two decades, returned “home" to Chicago in 2024 and recruited four able-bodied sidemen to record eight of his largely hermetic yet lavishly bedecked compositions and arrangements.

7
Album Review

Chris Varga: Breathe

Read "Breathe" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Setting up shop as a jazz artist in Seoul, South Korea, is probably not the recommended way of raising the profile in the United States. But vibraphonist Chris Varga, who worked the jazz scene in Chicago during the '90s, made that trans-Pacific move and set himself up as a busy and prolific player in Korea's vibrant jazz scene. Coming back stateside for an extended stay in 2024, Varga took advantage of the opportunity to put together a quintet ...

4
Album Review

Euan Edmonds: Beyond Hope and Fear

Read "Beyond Hope and Fear" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Washington DC-based Trombonist Euan Edmonds is a versatile musician who has performed in diverse settings. He honed his improvisational skills, however, in Chicago's creative music scene. His intriguing debut, Beyond Hope and Fear, on drummer Gustavo Cortinas' Desafio Candente label, features some of the city's most exciting voices in a cohesive sextet. The core of this cinematic album is the eponymous seven-part suite that features the spontaneity of the individual musicians in a dynamic framework. Saxophonist Clark Gibson ...

25
Album Review

Maddie Vogler: While We Have Time

Read "While We Have Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Regardless of one's opinion of the music (from this vantage point, quite favorable), it is always a pleasure to welcome a jazz group led by a woman whose talents reach beyond voice or piano. Maddie Vogler, who presides over an admirable sextet on While We Have Time (and wrote all the music therein), plays alto saxophone, and does so about as well as any of her peers, male or female. When she is not gigging or recording, ...

5
Album Review

Maddie Vogler: While We Have Time

Read "While We Have Time" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


In the introduction to alto saxophonist Maddie Vogler's debut recording, While We Have Time, are two striking images. The first is the cover shot, a pair of venerable unmatched hands, depicting those of the artist's immigrant grandmothers, beautifully and simply adorned. The second image is the inside photo of a vibrant young woman, an alto saxophone cradled in her hands. Maddie Vogler. Unusually for a debut, it is a set of all originals, but Vogler is up to ...


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