Jazz Articles about Roswell Rudd

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The Artist Formerly Known as Avant-Garde!

by AAJ Staff
December 20, 2003

This article was submitted on behalf of Roswell Rudd.

Back in the 1960's, avant-garde was one of the terms used to categorize the new music. Because I was coming from Dixieland Jazz into this new music, the term struck me as strange and a little inappropriate. My understanding in those days was that the term was used particularly with those of us involved with free improvisation.

Most recently my patience was piqued by a reference to my playing at The ...

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Roswell Rudd: MALIcool

by Elliott Simon
January 30, 2003

West African Manden music is no stranger to Western ears, and much has been made of its close similarity to American blues. On Malicool, Roswell Rudd transports his singular trombone to West Africa for an adventurous session with Malian kora player Toumani Diabate, who is among the world’s best on the instrument. The kora is a 21-stringed instrument that can be fingerpicked in a blues-like manner and can be used to harmonize, play chords and/or produce incredibly fast runs. Think ...

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Roswell Rudd / Archie Shepp: Live in New York

by John Stevenson
July 1, 2001

The year was 1994. The venue: the Eilat Red Sea Jazz Festival. Hundreds of sweltering Jazz aficionados waited in a huge converted cargo shed to witness reedman Archie Shepp and his quartet--a marquee coup for the Israeli festival. When Shepp swaggered onto the stage, the more discerning members of the audience (including this reviewer) could scarcely conceal their disappointment. Here was the 1960s hero of radical Jazz conservatively bedecked in two--piece gray suit and tie. He might as well have ...

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Roswell Rudd: Broad Strokes

by AAJ Staff
August 1, 2000

Ballad records are always a risky proposition. It takes a certain degree of finesse to pull off an hour of slow-tempo, melodic pieces without sending the listener into boredom. On Broad Strokes, trombonist Roswell Rudd takes the plunge, with mixed results.

Rudd spent the '60s playing with free jazz luminaries like Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, and Archie Shepp; he teamed with Steve Lacy for an all-Monk band. Although he spent a lot of time as a sideman, his own personal ...