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Jazz Articles about Sylvie Courvoisier
Sylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by Troy Dostert
It says something about pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's current profile in creative jazz that she could assemble such a distinguished ensemble for her latest release, Chimaera. Augmenting her usual trio of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen are trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Nate Wooley, and with the always interesting Christian Fennesz completing the group on guitar and electronics, one would expect extraordinary results. And so they are--worthy of a lengthy, two-CD treatment, in fact. Courvoisier's work with ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier / Cory Smythe: The Rite of Spring: Spectre d’un songe
by Karl Ackermann
Two daring jazz improvisers take on a cherished hundred-year-old classical ballet masterpiece with radical roots on The Rite of Spring: Spectre d'un songe. Igor Stravinsky was fresh off the success of his 1911 “Petrushka," which radiated with the artistic atmosphere of his Russia, when in 1913 he premiered “The Rite of Spring" at the opening of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. The audience was divided into the Parisian elite in the boxes and the “bohemian" aesthetes scattered about the theater. Stravinsky's ...
Continue ReadingSolos & Duets: Dave Rimpus, Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Mingus and more
by David Brown
In a duo performance, musicians become instrumental equals. The interchange of ideas and flow of music is like a conversation. And for the artist who performs solo, there is no place to hide. Today, we present a smorgasbord of solo and duo performances from Coleman Hawkins to Colin Stetson, Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson to Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton, Art Tatum to Satoko Fujii, Peter Brotzmann and Walter Perkins to Bill Evans and Edie Gomez and so many more. ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier / Mary Halvorson: Searching for the Disappeared Hour
by Jerome Wilson
Here pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson come together for the second time on record in a set of amorphous, ever-changing music that combines their two distinctive approaches into something unique. The musicians' individual sounds are very complimentary as Halvorson's strums and swoops interlock tightly with Courvoisier's precise notes. Together they show a friskiness not often heard in their individual work. Their playing has a dreamy, disoriented surface that sounds like other-dimensional cocktail music and often embeds ...
Continue ReadingBrass And Ivory Tales
by Hrayr Attarian
Innovative saxophonist Ivo Perelman celebrates his 60th birthday with the release of a magnum opus, Brass And Ivory Tales. Recorded over a period of seven years, this nine-volume box set is impressive in both its depth and breath as it matches Perelman with a different piano master per disc. The improvised duets are usually the first documented meeting between the two musicians and the instant and rapidly evolving synergy is fresh and thrilling. Both remarkable and expected is Perelman's ability ...
Continue ReadingIvo Perelman: Brass And Ivory Tales
by Mark Corroto
Archeologists and cultural anthropologists theorize early humans had some form of music appreciation. They listened to the sounds wind made as it passed through trees. The breeze sounded different passing through oak than it did fir trees, and the sound was altered whether it was spring or fall. Then there were the bird songs, the first Lennon & McCartneys of the stone age. Early man replicated these melodies, with bones that could be whittled into horns or used to recreate ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier, Mary Halvorson, Chris Morrissey, Mathias Eick & Other New Releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
Another truckload of great new and upcoming albums this week, for a show that highlights the beauty of jazz projects which are not aligned with the esthetics of major labels. Happy listening! PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Kurt Elling “Circus" SuperBlue (Edition) 0:16 Host talks 5:07 Nicola Guida (feat. Greg Osby) “The Blade Sensei: Suite For A Suicide Shokunin" Speleology (Inner Circle Music) 6:46 Host talks 10:51 Rachel Eckroth ...
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