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JD Allen: Americana
by Angelo Leonardi
Con questa profonda, austera e appassionata indagine sul blues, JD Allen intende ribadire la sua centralità nell'ambito della musica statunitense (“il blues è la porta d'ingresso -dice nelle note -per il passato e il futuro della musica americana; la fonte da cui gospel, jazz, rock, country, rhythm & blues e hip hop sono formulati. Lo spirito del blues, sia esso sottile o esplicito, riesce a manifestarsi in ogni genere di musica americana"). Non è una questione secondaria e ...
Continue ReadingJD Allen: Americana
by Franz A. Matzner
JD Allen is an artist who always delivers. He is also an artist who takes risks, willing to explore his limitations, and then break them; to expose his vulnerabilities, and reflect upon their source and meaning. His experimentation is not obvious. It spirals inwards, orbiting the central axis of jazz, while traversing its various trajectories with elegance, depth, and intense regard to produce deeply personal statements that draw in audiences and listeners like moths to flame. His latest ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Bird Calls
by Dave Wayne
On Bird Calls, alto saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa takes on the music of Charlie Parker in a personal and profound way, accompanied by his whip-smart, uber-hip and youthful backing band. Let's face it, folks; this is the sort of thing a jazz fan's daydreams are made of. The result doesn't disappoint; Bird Calls is a masterpiece, and will certainly grace many a critic's year end “Top 10" list. It's evident that Mahanthappa thought this album through from ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Bird Calls
by Dan Bilawsky
Charlie Parker has been deified, his methods have been codified, and his recordings have been analyzed ad infinitum. Six decades have passed since he left this realm, yet he remains the lodestar for a significant portion of the jazz community, from the aspiring to the elite, and his influence hasn't waned one bit. Given all of that, it's astonishing to realize that so few players have taken chances by looking beyond the songs, the music theory, the recordings, and the ...
Continue ReadingRudresh Mahanthappa: Bird Calls
by Victor L. Schermer
In this innovative album, Rudresh Mahanthappa is to “Yardbird" Charlie Parker what Albert Einstein was to Isaac Newton. He revises Parker's legacy to his own advanced understanding, yet preserves the essential truth of Parker's contribution to jazz. One genius says “hello" to another and then goes his own way. The result is an exciting “leaning in" to Bird's bebop while retaining Mahanhtappa's unique synthesis of the jazz idiom with the music of India and other parts of the world. This ...
Continue ReadingRudy Royston: 303
by Dan Bilawsky
Drummer Rudy Royston's actions speak louder than his words. Royston oozed modesty, comfort and a touch of humor when he addressed the audience at a pre-release show for 303 during New York's Winter Jazzfest, but he gave off a much different sense of himself when he put sticks to skins during that same set. One minute he was delivering low-key, in-the-pocket grooves that had heads bobbing in the affirmative, and the next he was creating a percussive maelstrom that tore ...
Continue ReadingGregg August: Four by Six
by AAJ Italy Staff
Fattosi apprezzare e conoscere come componente del trio di JD Allen, il contrabbassista Gregg August porta avanti dal 2005 un percorso da leader, iniziato nel 2005 con Late August e proseguito con One Peace del 2007 e l'attuale Four by Six, inciso nell'estate 2011. Se i primi due lo vedevano a capo di sestetti, il titolo di questo lavoro allude all'alternarsi di due formazioni: un quartetto comprendente il sax soprano Sam Newsome, il pianista Luis Perdomo e il batterista EJ ...
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