Jazz Articles about Sam Minaie

About Sam Minaie

Album Review

Pressoché sconosciuto dalle nostre parti, il poco più che trentenne Phillip Golub è musicista assai attivo nella sempre effervescente scena newyorchese. Eclettico, trasversale, dalla curiosità onnivora si muove con disinvoltura tra jazz, intrighi elettronici, libera improvvisazione e musica da camera, come testimoniano dischi e concerti. Per Abiding Memory si è scomodato un gigante del pianoforte come Vijay Iyer, scrivendone assai lusinghiere note di copertina. E l'ascolto delle dieci tracce conferma appieno l'eccellenza del risultato, perché Abiding Memory è ...

Album Review

Magos Herrera: Aire

by Angelo Leonardi
May 30, 2023

Se amate l'universo musicale latino nelle sue varie espressioni--più o meno jazzisticamente orientate--verrete coinvolti profondamente da questo disco intenso e sorprendente. Magos Herrera è una cantante e compositrice messicana poco nota in Italia ma considerata tra le massime vocalist contemporanee. Magos risiede a New York dal 2008 e in due decenni ha pubblicato dischi ricercati, spaziando da contenuti jazzistici (ad es. Distancia con Aaron Goldberg e Lionel Loueke) a personali incursioni nel patrimonio musicale di Centro e Sudamerica ...

Album Review

Melody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue - The Deluxe Version

Read "Sunset in the Blue - The Deluxe Version" reviewed by William H. Snyder

by William H. Snyder
May 3, 2021

Henri Matisse, the master of the use of color, said, “Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue." Melody Gardot's Sunset in the Blue: The Deluxe Version shows its mastery, in both the color of its cover design and the execution of its musicianship. Back in the day, Matisse got in trouble with some art critics for his simile. Some listeners might have a similar reaction to Melody's music, but not all. Gardot's ...

Album Review

Believers: Believers

Read "Believers" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann

by Friedrich Kunzmann
March 16, 2021

The three individuals making up Believers are each highly respected musical voices in their own right. Percussionist John Hadfield has performed and recorded with the likes of Nguyen Le and released an inspired duo EP with woodwind autodidact Lenny Pickett, called Heard by Others (Orenda Records, 2020). Sam Minaie, on the other hand, has played bass for household names such as piano virtuoso Tigran Hamasyan and the charming jazz-pop icon Melody Gardot. Which brings us to the last protagonist completing ...

Album Review

Melody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue

Read "Sunset in the Blue" reviewed by Scott Gudell

by Scott Gudell
January 25, 2021

Melody Gardot emerged from her own smoky shadows of the mid-2000s as if she were some femme fatale emanating from a film noir movie. The plot twist was that she was the good girl, but it was her body that had been damaged in an auto accident. An extensive recovery followed. Her long, lean cane only reinforced her long, lean looks. The shades added just a touch of mystery. If there was anything positive, it was that she confronted the ...

Album Review

Chris McCarthy: Still Time to Quit

Read "Still Time to Quit" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann

by Friedrich Kunzmann
September 9, 2020

Only two minutes into “That's All You Get," the opening track to pianist Chris McCarthy's debut recording for Ropeadope Records, Still Time To Quit, and already it seems that everything that had to be said was said. Maybe that's why at this point the track coincidentally also reaches its end. A savage yet controlled display of friction and constant motion. At its core a rabidly jumping call-and-response structure, the opener displays the leader's scarily-dexterous chops on piano through speed as ...

Album Review

Chris McCarthy: Still Time to Quit

Read "Still Time to Quit" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
April 21, 2020

From 2017 to 2020, composer and pianist Chris McCarthy charted a path as a noted sideman for such notables as Jerry Bergonzi, Ben Allison and Jason Palmer. He was often seen performing with vibraphonist Sasha Berliner and in duet with vocalist Clotilde Rullaud. In short, he has gained a reputation for imaginative and supportive playing. McCarthy's path has been blazed from a renowned high school program in Seattle, to the cloistered realm of the New England Conservatory, finally ...