Jazz Articles about Randall Pharr

About Randall Pharr

Album Review

Grief is often complex and multi-faceted. How we cope with it reflects as much about those we have lost as it does about ourselves. This is a reality that trumpet master Rex Richardson knows all too well, having lost his father in 2023. Elegy is Richardson's poignant tribute to his father, yet the eight songs offer a variety of personal tributes that explore the complexity of living through bereavement in unexpected ways with moods both somber and bright. ...

Album Review

Victor Haskins: Ikigai

Read "Ikigai" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
September 3, 2022

Ikigai is a Japanese concept which pertains to leading a vibrant, fulfilling, purposeful life. Over his career, Victor Haskins, who spent his early years in India, has obviously been influenced by the improvisational potential of music. With Ikigai, the visionary performer, composer and creator of “ImproviStory" delivers an utterly enthralling sonic exploration in nine originals. The opener, “A New Way," has the cornetist calling the exotic theme which ensuingly provides Haskins an enormous opportunity to expand his ...