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Jazz Articles about Steve Swell
Dave Sewelson: More Music for a Free World
by Troy Dostert
While baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson may not be as widely-recognized as those whose company he regularly keeps, this long-standing veteran of William Parker's Little Huey Orchestra and the Microscopic Sextet has long been a force in wielding his weighty axe, lending lower-end punch with vigor and dexterity for several decades. Here he's reunited with Parker, drummer Marvin Bugalu Smith and trombonist Steve Swell for a follow-up to a recording from 2018, Music for a Free World (FMR Records). Like its ...
read moreSteve Swell / Robert Boston / Michael Vatcher: Brain In A Dish
by John Sharpe
It is hard to think of a more complete trombone player on the scene than Steve Swell. While a go-to sideman for the likes of William Parker, Ken Vandermark, Jason Kao Hwang and Tim Daisy, he has also amassed a significant body of work over the years in his own right. Although his output has featured compositions of increasing sophistication, Swell remains a committed and accomplished improviser, and that is the turf he stakes out on the eleven extemporized studio ...
read moreSteve Swell, Ziv Taubenfeld & Ivo Perelman
by Maurice Hogue
This episode carries on from the previous, playing music from a some of the important independent labels that keep creative music alive. ESP-Disk has been around, survived one crash in the 80s, and is still releasing great music. Son Of Local Colour is a 50-year-later follow up to English pianist Peter Lemer's original Local Colour album for ESP. The label suggested an anniversary concert to celebrate, and the gig at Pizza Express in London was recorded. Prolific saxophonist Ivo Perelman ...
read moreSteve Swell: Appreciating the Avant Garde Today
by Victor L. Schermer
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6[This is the third of an All About Jazz series of interviews and articles on “The Many Faces of Jazz Today: Critical Dialogues" in which we explore the current state of jazz around the world with musicians, journalists, and entrepreneurs who give us their own unique perspectives. In the first interview of the series, saxophonist Bobby Zankel spoke about his efforts to ...
read moreSteve Swell: Kanreki: Reflection & Renewal
by John Sharpe
To mark his sixtieth birthday (December 6, 2014), trombonist Steve Swell, long the pre-eminent trombonist on the NYC free jazz scene, invokes the Japanese custom of Kanreki. Although it is said to signal both a rebirth and a handing on of responsibilities, Swell shows no signs of allowing the occasion to inhibit his ambition. Over the course of two discs, Not Two proffers a broad survey of recent outlets for his expression, encompassing seven distinct line ups recorded between 2011 ...
read moreSteve Swell: Unlimited Musical Possibilities
by Victor L. Schermer
"Free Jazz" and “Avant-Garde Jazz" are catch phrases often associated with musical pioneers such as Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor but more broadly refer to music that goes outside of the mainstream of melody, harmony, rhythm, and structure. When that happens, opinions and emotions abound. Reactions vary from disgust to excitement and enthusiasm, and it is rare to find a balanced view on the subject. The question arises, why does the same music so strongly attract and repel? To seek ...
read moreSabir Mateen – Frode Gjerstad: Sound Gathering
by AAJ Italy Staff
Inciso a Brooklyn nel settembre 2007, questo bell'album vede coagire due storici (per quanto appartati) alfieri della free music quali il norvegese Gierstad, classe 1948, e il neroamericano Mateen (Philadelphia, 1951), ospite l'almeno altrettanto glorioso trombonista Steve Swell, musicisti sui cui palmares incontriamo i nomi di William Parker, Cecil Taylor, Sunny Murray, Lol Coxhill, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Han Bennink, Bill Dixon, Anthony Braxton e innumerevoli altri numi tutelari dell'avanguardia jazzistica. Tanta generosità di collaborazioni trova puntuale riscontro ...
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