Jazz Articles about Rod Williams

About Rod Williams

Album Review

Michael Marcus Quartet: Next Stop Down!

Read "Next Stop Down!" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
August 16, 2026

A fixture in the avant-garde jazz community since the early 1990s, multi-instrumentalist Michael Marcus has done notable work with his own ensembles and alongside other prominent improvisers such as William Parker, Sonny Simmons, Andrew Cyrille and Joe McPhee. His first release with ESP-Disk in 2022, Abstractions in Lime Caverns, featured the leader on no fewer than five separate horns, including the tarogato, an instrument which takes center stage on Next Stop Down!, Marcus' first effort with a top-shelf quartet which ...

Album Review

Patrick Brennan: Tilting Curvaceous

Read "Tilting Curvaceous" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
July 26, 2023

In spite of being active on the NYC scene since the mid-'70s, alto saxophonist and composer patrick brennan (he prefers his name spelled entirely in lowercase letters) has a relatively sparse discography, to which tilting curvaceous constitutes a splendid addition. It constitutes the seventh release by his S0nic 0penings band since Introducing S0UP (Deep Dish, 1981), but the first since 2007's Muhheankuntuk (Clean Feed). Bassist Hilliard Greene has been an ever-present since 2002, though trumpeter Brian Groder, drummer Michael TA ...

Album Review

Patrick Brennan Sonic Openings: Tilting Curvaceous

Read "Tilting Curvaceous" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
May 23, 2023

The quintet project Tilting Curvaceous is saxophonist/composer Patrick Brennan's sixth leader/co-leader date since the late 1990s. His duo recording Terraphonia (Creative Sources Recordings, 2019) with guitarist Abdul Moimême demonstrated a strong affinity for free improvisation within unconventional settings and uncommon concepts. Brennan is joined by trumpeter and flugelhorn player Brian Groder. The native New Yorker has been a long-time fixture on the NYC jazz scene and has devoted a significant part of his career to the frequent use of free-form ...

Liner Notes

Patrick Brennan and sOnic Opening: Tilting Curvaceous

by Howard Mandel
March 16, 2023

Tilting Curvaceous is all-of-a-piece, s0nic 0penings' instigator and extraordinary alto saxophonist Patrick Brennan informs us, emerging from a single “meta-groove interface," to be heard whole. That may come naturally to fans of creative improvisation since the breakthroughs of Ornette Coleman, say, and new constructions by composers including Cecil Taylor, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Henry Threadgill and Brennan himself. However, as presented in 14 distinct tracks, this album is also a suite of inter-related movements--separate, comparable, able to ...

Album Review

Keisuke Kishi: Elsewhere

Read "Elsewhere" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 16, 2021

The album is titled Elsewhere. It is the work of Japanese drummer Keisuke Kishi, who is based in New York. But where is elsewhere? Is it the western shore of Oahu, an area of stark landscapes and poverty, in relative isolation from the bustling tourism of Waikiki? Or is it Bagamoyo, Tanzania? The album's cover art features a photo from Bagamoyo. Kishi has spent time in both of these locales. Or is elsewhere East Village, New York City, Kishi's home ...