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Rin Seo: City Suite
by Jack Bowers
There is no doubting which metropolis Korean-born composer Rin Seo had in mind when writing City Suite, the panoramic opening salvo and centerpiece on the debut recording by her fourteen-member Rin Seo Collective, as the suite's first movement is titled “The Big Apple." Seo moved to New York City, her present home, after coming to America to study jazz performance and composition at Boston's Berklee College of Music. The suite's three movements are thematic, and Seo's portrayal ...
Continue ReadingInes Velasco: A Flash of Cobalt Blue
by Angelo Leonardi
Dopo la laurea con lode al Berklee College in composizione e varie esperienze di orchestrazione nell'ultimo decennio (Snarky Puppy, Metropole Orkest, Gregory Porter, Avenged Sevenfold, NY Philharmonic String Quartet, la National Jazz Orchestra of México), la messicana Ines Velasco debutta con un proprio album in veste di compositrice e bandleader. Il lavoro è stato ispirato ed è strettamente connesso alle poesie di Jorge Esquinca (tratte dal volume Un brillo azul cobalto) che le recita in ogni brano dell'album. ...
Continue ReadingHyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra: Things Will Pass
by Jack Bowers
There are a handful of things you should know about Hyeseon Hong (pronounced hay-sun hong), as each of them impacts the scope and purpose of the music on Things Will Pass. First, she is well-versed in the shaping and subtleties of contemporary big-band jazz; second, she was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea; third, she formed her own big band after relocating from Korea to New York City more than a decade ago; fourth, and perhaps most important, she ...
Continue ReadingJihye Lee Orchestra: Infinite Connections
by Jack Bowers
Some eighty-odd years ago a handful of trailblazers led by saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie changed the vocabulary of jazz, introducing bebop as a successor to trad jazz and swing and radically transforming the music's landscape and perspective. Their terminology remained pretty much intact for a number of years, with partisans choosing a path between the diverse genres, until at last the very definition of jazz began to move in new directions with newcomers such as cool jazz, ...
Continue ReadingJihye Lee Orchestra: Infinite Connections
by Angelo Leonardi
Su queste pagine abbiamo seguito il percorso discografico di Jihye Lee a partire dal suo esordio (April, 2017) ed il successivo Daring Mind (Motéma 2021), co-prodotto con Darcy James Argue. La collaborazione con quest'ultimo si ripropone anche nel nuovo Infinite Connections, registrato nell'ottobre 2023, che evidenzia un significativo passo avanti nella sua sintesi tra jazz e proprie radici musicali. Che la bandleader fosse un talento eccezionale è apparso chiaro dalla rapidità con cui ha padroneggiato le tecniche ...
Continue ReadingJihye Lee Orchestra: Infinite Connections
by Troy Dostert
One of the most ambitious composers working exclusively in the large-ensemble format, Jihye Lee is now offering her third release, coming on the heels of the well-received April (Self-released, 2017) and Daring Mind (Motéma Music, 2021). Lee is a fearless artist with a seemingly limitless imagination, with a multiplicity of themes and rhythms swirling through her complex, densely-layered compositions. And as always, she once again has a terrific group of colleagues to help bring her rich, multi-hued vision to life. ...
Continue ReadingErica Seguine: The New Day Bends Light
by Angelo Leonardi
Impegnandosi nel ruolo di produttore, Darcy James Argue dà particolare considerazione al debutto discografico di quest'ensemble, fondato nel 2011 a New York dalle compositrici Erica Seguine e Shon Baker. La prima è anche arrangiatrice e guida dell'orchestra, la seconda entra nel cast come sassofonista. Dopo varie esibizioni in locali chiave della Big Apple, le due leader hanno selezionato sette composizioni originali dal loro repertorio, incidendole con un ampio organico comprendente talentuosi solisti della metropoli. Alcuni di essi ...
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