Jazz Articles about Steve Lehman
About Steve Lehman
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsTroy Dostert's Best Releases of 2022
by Troy Dostert
Did 2022 represent a return to “normal" in the jazz world? Perhaps, although it might be more valuable to keep our eyes focused on the shifting trajectories and stylistic heterodoxies that make this music as unpredictable and surprising as ever. Releases from Steve Lehman and Eve Risser were especially noteworthy, involving pan-continental strivings that are always welcome in avant-garde jazz. But so too was the work of chameleonic Tyshawn Sorey, whose eagerness to delve into classic jazz repertoire was one ...
read moreSteve Lehman & Sélébéyone: Xaybu: The Unseen
by Karl Ackermann
Alto saxophonist Steve Lehman debuted his Sélébéyone project in 2016 with a self-titled release on the Pi Recordings label. It was nothing short of revolutionary; an amalgamation of jazz improvisation and globalized hip-hop, it was an intrepid declaration. Originally a septet, Sélébéyone returns as a quintet on Xaybu: The Unseen. The five current members are from the original formation, with bassist Drew Gress and pianist Carlos Homs absent from the sophomore outing. Lehman is a renaissance artist; composer, ...
read moreSteve Lehman Trio + Craig Taborn: The People I Love
by John Sharpe
On The People I Love, alto saxophonist Steve Lehman, Janus-like looks back, while simultaneously looking forward. He recruits celebrated pianist Craig Taborn to bolster his longstanding trio of bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Damion Reid. It was once said that Taborn was fated to play better on other people's records than his own. Happily that is no longer the case, but his enduring commitment gives him MVP status in this team, and that's saying something. Lehman enlists his help not ...
read moreTrio Treats
by Maurice Hogue
This episode is dominated by trios, perhaps the most popular format in jazz today. Steve Lehman's new The People I Love debuts (with the addition of the formidable pianist Craig Taborn), definitely a must-hear for 2019. Golden Valley Is Now reunites Taborn with Dave King and Reid Anderson (they all grew up together), while another threesome that's very comfortable together is saxophonist Stephen Gauci, bassist Adam Lane and drummer Kevin Shea. They're the house band at the Bushwick in Brooklyn. ...
read moreSteve Lehman Trio + Craig Taborn: The People I Love
by Mark Corroto
It is easy think about the shock of the new that was bebop when listening to The People I Love by alto saxophonist Steve Lehman's trio. Not that Lehman plays bebop as it was in the 1940s. It took mammals millions of years of evolution to climb down out of trees and fashion tools, but it has taken but a few decades to progress from Lester Young to Charlie Parker, to Eric Dolphy to Rudresh Mahanthappa. Think Darwin's foot on ...
read moreSteve Lehman & Sélébéyone: Sélébéyone
by Karl Ackermann
Steve Lehman's critically acclaimed albums have been topping national polls for more than half a decade. It's all the more an achievement when considering Lehman's unique, cerebral and ever-changing approach to artistic creation. His most recent project, Sélébéyone takes its name from this new group that Lehman founded in 2015. It incorporates elements of spectral music--where compositions are influenced by sound waves and mathematics--rap, hip hop, electronics, and of course, jazz. The overall vibe, however, jazz rap/hip hop.
read moreSteve Lehman: Sélébéyone
by Mark Corroto
The remastered edition of the Beastie Boys disc Check Your Head (Capitol, 2009) has a bonus disc with a live track from Budokan, Japan. A Japanese rapper, MC Poo, raps “Microphone Check" in broken English before continuing on in Japanese. Without the language, he knew what the Beasties were about and also without the Japanese language, we know what time it is. Same can be said for American saxophonist Steve Lehman's Sélébéyone. Sélébéyone or “intersection ," is a ...
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