Jazz Articles about Nick Hempton
About Nick Hempton
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsNick Hempton Band Live & Loud
by David A. Orthmann
Nick Hempton Band Live and Loud New York, NY December 3, 2020 Can venues reflect the tenor of a particular time? In August of 2018, saxophonist Nick Hempton played two sets at a park in Dobbs Ferry, NY, a striking location right on the Hudson River. It was a comfortably warm summer evening. Families sat on lawn chairs and blankets, noshed on goodies, applauded the sounds of Hempton's quartet and laughed at the dry wit ...
read moreNick Hempton: Night Owl
by Dan Bilawsky
If jazz belongs to a single breed of believers, it would have to go to the night owls. Those loyalists who live a nocturnal existence—the listeners. sitting at the bar while they drink in their surroundings, and the performers, playing into the wee small hours in basement hideaways—are the heartbeat of this music, and saxophonist Nick Hempton knows it. Having spent many an evening in clubs and corner bars, Hempton is more than qualified to raise his ...
read moreNick Hempton: Trio Stonk: Live At Smalls
by David A. Orthmann
On April 20, 2017, tenor and alto saxophonist Nick Hempton, bassist George DeLancey, and drummer Dan Aran played a gig at Smalls Jazz Club in New York City. Fortunately, it was recorded and recently released by the house label, SmallsLIVE. Although Hempton is the leader, the sixty minutes of music amounts to a collective accomplishment. The record documents a band that sounds raw, unprocessed, unfiltered--in short, the antithesis of any attempt at the unattainable ideal of studio perfection. With one ...
read moreNick Hempton: Catch and Release
by Edward Blanco
Veteran New York saxophonist Nick Hempton lets loose with the stellar Catch and Release, a special project that has been a year-long journey and an experiment of sorts, in recording and releasing music. The album contains eight original Hempton compositions except that each tune was recorded and released separately for purchase on-line on the internet for, as the saxophonist states, “putting it into the marketplace the way people are already buying it." Though the project officially kicked off in July ...
read moreNick Hempton: Catch And Release
by Dan Bilawsky
When it come to music release methods, there's nothing more stubborn or persistent than the single. Music has fallen in and out of love with so many different formats over the years, but the one-song-at-a-time method of digestion has weathered every shift, spat, and alteration that life and technology have thrown at it. In fact, it's stronger than ever in this download and post-download age. So what, pray tell, does that have to do with this album? Everything.
read moreNick Hempton's Catch & Release
by Eric J. Iannelli
Ever since the advent of Napster, musicians and commentators have been sounding the knell for the music industry model that had existed for the better part of the twentieth century. More than fifteen years on, it's clear that the old model lurches on, haggard and zombielike, but no clear and lasting successor has emerged. The à la carte model of iTunes, the 500-pound gorilla of the digital music era, is now losing ground to ad-supported or subscription streaming services such ...
read moreNick Hempton: Odd Man Out
by Bruce Lindsay
So, just who is the Odd Man Out? It's not exactly one of the great enigmas of modern times, but it's something to ponder. Not for too long, though, for time will be much better spent enjoying the music. Odd Man Out is the third album from saxophonist Nick Hempton and his band and it represents a notable step forward for what was already an impressive and hugely enjoyable ensemble.So what's changed since Hempton's second album The Business ...
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