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Jazz Articles about Rudy Royston
Bill Frisell: Valentine
by Angelo Leonardi
Pur confermando in pieno l'identità stilistica del chitarrista, il nuovo disco di Bill Frisell si rivela sottilmente imprevedibile: spiazza forse un po' l'ascoltatore ma lo coinvolge intensamente nella mente e nel cuore. Pubblicato il 14 agosto dalla Blue Note, Valentine è la prima incisione ufficiale del trio con Thomas Morgan e Rudy Royston, attivo da alcuni anni in ambito concertistico. Com'è noto, la recente attività artistica di Frisell l'ha visto coinvolto in altri progetti: i lucidissimi ...
Continue ReadingRudy Royston: Little Steps, Big Pictures
by Ian Patterson
Everybody needs a helping hand now and then. Rudy Royston understands that. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused gigs to completely dry up for all musicians, and with that, their main income stream. Yet there are still mortgages, rents and bills to pay, and children to feed. It says something about the precarious finances of a jazz musician's life, that Royston, one of the music's most in-demand drummers of the past quarter of a century—a trusted collaborator of Ron Miles, JD ...
Continue ReadingRudy Royston: PaNOptic
by Ian Patterson
Record label bosses probably do not hear the words “solo drum album" too often. Or if they do, judging by the paucity of such exemplars on the market, they likely only have to hear the phrase the once. After three impressive albums on Dave Douglas' Greenleaf Music label, to wit, 303 (2014), Rise of Orion (2016) and Flatbed Buggy (2018), drummer Rudy Royston happily confounds expectations with a solo drum album. No overdubs, no electronics, just skin, cymbals and a ...
Continue ReadingBill Frisell: Valentine
by Ian Patterson
In an extraordinarily varied career Bill Frisell has made just a handful of trio recordings as leader, which is perhaps surprising given how frequently he performs in such a setting. In recent years the Baltimore-born, Denver-raised guitarist has toured two of his most empathetic trios, that with Kenny Wollesen and Tony Scherr and, latterly, with Rudy Royston and Thomas Morgan but, until now, without venturing into the studio. Valentine marks the studio debut of the Frisell, Royston and Morgan trio, ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Hero Trio
by Emmanuel Di Tommaso
La sedicesima produzione discografica del sassofonista statunitense di origini indiane Rudresh Mahanthappa rappresenta un nuovo capitolo del progetto di fusione fra la musica carnatica dell'India meridionale e la musica occidentale contemporanea che ne ha caratterizzato l'intera carriera artistica fin dagli inizi negli anni Novanta, anticipando un percorso di sperimentazioni e commistioni intrapreso in anni recenti, tra gli altri, anche dal settetto dei Crosscurrents e dal collettivo dei Brooklyn Raga Massive. Hero Trio contiene nove brani che vanno ben ...
Continue ReadingRudy Royston: PaNOptic
by Karl Ackermann
Like many jazz musicians in 2020, drummer/composer Rudy Royston has felt the direct effects of living in the coronavirus world. The Texas native, now a New Jersey resident, found his streams of income drying up without gigs, but then experienced a fortunate twist of fate that stood him up. Head above water, the artist pays it forward by helping other musicians. The tracks that appear on PaNOptic were previously recorded but not released. Partnering with the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Hero Trio
by Mark Corroto
All great jazz musicians are omnivores, admired for their ability to ingest and synthesize large schools of music. Saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa is one such omnivore, maybe best described as an alpha predator. His music, whether it is advancing modern jazz or fusing the Carnatic music of southern India with his American experience, occupies the highest level of the musical food chain. Like other predacious jazzmen, he can make a meal of everything from pop songs to jazz standards. Mahanthappa's Hero ...
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