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Ted Piltzecker: Vibes on a Breath
by Jack Bowers
Even though Ted Piltzecker is a splendid vibraphonist and ushers a group of Colorado's leading jazz musicians through its paces on Vibes on a Breath, it is his sparkling arrangements that carry the day on this delightful new album. Several members of Piltzecker's septet double, and he makes the most of that versatility, writing charts that bring to the fore John Gunther's bass clarinet, Wil Swindler's baritone sax and (on the closing number) Judith Leclair's bassoon and Javier Diaz's percussion. ...
read moreDave Askren/Jeff Benedict: Denver Sessions
by Jack Bowers
There are times when a little extra effort goes a long way. To record the Denver Sessions, guitarist Dave Askren and saxophonist Jeff Benedict flew from the Los Angeles area, vibraphonist Ted Piltzecker from New York City to team with the Mile High city's Patrick McDevitt (bass) and Paul Romaine (drums) for Askren and Benedict's twelfth album together and fourth as co-leaders. Was it worth the trip? In one listener's opinion, first-class tickets, no matter the price, would be cheap ...
read moreDave Askren / Jeff Benedict: Denver Sessions
by Edward Blanco
Los Angeles-based guitarist Dave Askren and saxophonist Jeff Benedict collaborate on their fourth album as co-leaders on the Denver Sessions, an exquisite ten-piece set of primarily original music recorded in Denver, Colorado. The leaders have been playing together for around thirty years in the LA area but, for some time, had wanted to perform with New York-based vibraphonist Ted Piltzecker and decided to make it happen with the help of drummer Paul Romaine who encouraged the move to Denver for ...
read moreJazz Worms: Squirmin'
by Pierre Giroux
There is something to be said for playing the long game. If a group is willing to wait for over thirty years between the issuance of albums, then clearly there is a bond among the participants that is remarkable. This clearly applies to the Jazz Worms. The group's debut release was Crawling Out (Van Buren) in 1987 and only now do we have the follow-up, Squirmin'.This Denver-based quintet has a unique approach to their music and it is ...
read moreJazz WORMS: Squirmin'
by Jack Bowers
The Denver-based quintet Jazz WORMS recorded its first album, Crawling Out, in 1987. Based on the time it took to record a second, Squirmin', they may as well be called the Jazz SNAILS. To be fair, there are reasons why the next go-round took so long to materialize, the most conspicuous being success. In '87 the members of the quintet were relative newcomers to the jazz scene, merely finding their way; since then they have led busy and successful lives ...
read moreKeith Oxman: Two Cigarettes In the Dark
by Jack Bowers
What's a sure way to make a pretty good tenor saxophone-led quartet even better? Simple. Invite a second tenor and make sure his name is Houston Person. That's what Denver-based Keith Oxman has done to further enhance his quartet's splendid new album, Two Cigarettes in the Dark, sharing the front line with Person on six of the session's ten tracks. To say that Person brightens every number he's on would be understating the case; as the saying goes, he could ...
read moreKeith Oxman: Two Cigarettes In the Dark
by Edward Blanco
With the impressive Two Cigarettes in the Dark, Denver-based saxophonist Keith Oxman delivers what is most probably one of the finest albums on the contemporary jazz scene today. Imagine being in a dark room where you see nothing and suddenly two cigarettes are lit; naturally your attention will be focused on the cigarettes and the smoke they produce. On this album, the two burning sticks are Oxman and legendary sax man Houston Person together lighting-up the place. The ...
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