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Artemis: Arboresque
by Mike Jurkovic
The virtuoso musicians of Artemis--pianist Renee Rosnes trumpeter Ingrid Jensen saxophonist Nicole Glover bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller --get down to business quick on their third for Blue Note Arboresque. A testament to collaborative intuition and instinct, Arboresque may vary more in tempo and mood than its acclaimed predecessors--2023's ringing In Real Time and 2020's standard-setting debut Artemis--but it never lacks purpose or promise. It never goes looking for something it does not find. Jumping off with unsung pianist Donald Brown's ...
Continue ReadingDiva Jazz Orchestra: "30": Live at Dizzy's Club
by Jack Bowers
The “30" in the title of the superlative all-woman Diva Jazz Orchestra's latest album stands for 30 years, which, believe it or not, is how long the orchestra and its remarkable drummer and leader, Sherrie Maricle, have been up and running and making beautiful music at home and abroad. Among U.S.-based big bands, it would seem that only Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman have had longer runs than that. Fast company indeed. So is Diva ready for comparisons? ...
Continue ReadingThe DIVA Jazz Orchestra: Swings Broadway
by Jack Bowers
At the ripe old age of thirty (closer to a hundred in big-band years), the superlative New York-based, all-female DIVA Jazz Orchestra remains as frisky as a newborn colt, swinging up, down and around Broadway with abandon on its thirteenth album, a brisk and colorful tribute to the Great White Way that shines brightly from start to finish. The album opens and closes in a mid-1950s vein, raising the curtain with Steven Feifke's breezy, well-grooved arrangement of ...
Continue ReadingArtemis: Artemis
by Mike Jurkovic
It's truly exhilarating yet sadly mundane and reductive that a recording as vital and victorious as Artemis will be universally hailed as a first from an all-female supergroup. That it cuts across all generational, cultural, international, and ethnic planes. That Blue Note Records has expanded its ever legendary ranks to include, well, you know, a female group. It's like the more we think we've gotten past these worn, tired types of qualifiers we realize all the more we really haven't. ...
Continue ReadingThe DIVA Jazz Orchestra: DIVA + The Boys
by Dan Bilawsky
The all-female DIVA Jazz Orchesta has a boy-meets-girls story threaded into its origin, as drummer Stanley Kay served as the impetus behind the group's formation. Therefore, it's only fitting that the ladies have a few gentleman over to join them for some high times in the music every now and then. This eight-song set, recorded live at Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in March of 2017, finds clarinetist Ken Peplowski, dearly departed trumpeter Claudio Roditi, trombonist Jay Ashby, and ...
Continue ReadingThe DIVA Jazz Orchestra: DIVA + the Boys
by Jack Bowers
After more than twenty-five years as one of the world's most renowned big bands, drummer Sherrie Maricle's superlative all-female DIVA Jazz Orchestra invited a quartet of “the boys" onboard to help ensure the ensemble's twelfth album's success. Even though DIVA needs no consorts to affirm its unremitting mastery, it is nonetheless pleasurable to witness these talented women sharing the stage and blowing up a storm with such esteemed guest artists as clarinetist Ken Peplowski, trombonist Jay Ashby and (it hurts ...
Continue ReadingBartosz Hadala Group: The Runner Up
by Paul J. Youngman
Bartosz Hadala is a name of which more people should be made aware. Based in Poland, he is a world-class pianist and a contemporary composer with serious jazz chops. His debut, The Runner Up--a winner in every way--finds him in superb company, with some top names in jazz. Ten solid, fresh compositions--all original tunes, with the exception of Dizzy Gillespie's “A Night In Tunisia"--feature excellent performances by all parties, most of the songs performed by a septet. Up front, the ...
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