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Jazz Articles about Steven Feifke
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown: Quartet Sessions
by Jack Bowers
The Quartet Sessions (there are two of them) mark the eighth recording as leader by New York-based tenor saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, an heir-apparent to an acclaimed dynasty of hard-boppers whose monarchs include Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Gene Ammons, Charlie Rouse, Hank Mobley, Sonny Rollins and their peers, and embraces such contemporaries as Eric Alexander, Don Menza and Josh Redman, among others. In fact, it's hard to listen to Lefkowitz-Brown (or Chad LB, as he is often called), especially on the ...
Continue ReadingJohn Lake: Seven Angels
by Jim Worsley
Compelling is the first word that comes to mind in describing John Lake's debut record as a leader. Eight Lake originals, adjoined by three reimagined tunes from the past, comprise Seven Angels. A seasoned studio musician and sideman, Lake knew his time had come. He is joined by five stellar musicians who collectively build a liquid sextet. A lesser known artist doesn't have the luxury of time. He/she has to grab attention quickly. With that in mind, Lake ...
Continue ReadingAlexa Tarantino: Clarity
by Paul Rauch
Saxophonist Alexa Tarantino has as impressive resume in jazz as any artist could hope for at this stage of a career. As a performer, she has contributed notably to The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Cecile McLorin Salvant Quintet and Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, to note a few. She has lived the jazz life, juggling responsibilities as an educator, musician and curator, somehow fitting all the pieces together that illustrate the intricacies ...
Continue ReadingAlexa Tarantino: Clarity
by Dan Bilawsky
Alto saxophonist Alexa Tarantino is an indefatigable spirit, plain and simple. In the past two years alone she's worked with everybody from trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant, held down the lead alto chair in The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, co-led the fiery LSAT quintet with baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian, directed her self-founded Rockport Jazz Workshop, and appeared on more than a half dozen albums, including three collective-minded gatherings on the Posi-Tone imprint and her own debut for the ...
Continue Reading6 Steps To Big Band Writing
by Dan Bilawsky
6 Steps to Big Band Writing Steven Feifke 44 pages Jazz Lesson Videos 2019 Big band writing is no simple task. As with any skill, musical or otherwise, it requires time, study, and patience to reach a true level of proficiency. In short, it's an art that shouldn't be minimized. But it's also a process that need not mystify. Foundational knowledge connected to big band scoring is, at it's heart, all about building blocks. ...
Continue ReadingSteven Feifke: Peace In Time
by Dan Bilawsky
How do you rate a jazz album? Is it about strength and depth of improvisation--"the sound of surprise," as the late, great journalist Whitney Balliet might say? Is it about structural intricacy, harmonic integrity, rhythmic feel, and melodic communication? Or is it musical ingenuity and individual personalities at play that help to make or break a record? In truth, all of those ideas can factor into the equation, and Peace In Time does well by all of those metrics.
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