Jazz Articles about Ted Nash

Ted Nash & Odeon: La Espada De La Noche

by Chris May
June 3, 2005

Best known for his work within straight-ahead classic jazz--from early apprenticeships with the Lionel Hampton and Quincy Jones bands through today's collaborations with Wynton Marsalis--Ted Nash has used his Odeon projects to show another, more outward looking and, some might say, more interesting and innovative aspect of his musical interests. With Odeon, Nash weaves tango (and a dash of East European street music) into the New Orleans to Lincoln Center straight-ahead tradition to create an inventive, lyrical, and frequently playful ...

Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel: Buzz

by Rob Cline
June 1, 2004

Despite its moderate tempo, “Respiration," the opening track on Buzz, sets an insistent tone that drives the album’s first three tracks. Bassist Ben Allison penned all three charts, which feature tight, energetic ensemble playing by the six-piece band as well as plenty of open space for improvisation, including a textured piano solo by Frank Kimbrough on “Respiration" and a blistering tenor solo by either Michael Blake or Ted Nash (the promo copy of the disc does not specify) on “Buzz." ...

Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel: Buzz

by John Kelman
May 21, 2004

On the fourth album with his group Medicine Wheel bassist Ben Allison continues to push the boundaries of structured music with a programme of six originals and one Beatles cover. With a straightforward sound that belies a richer complexity, Allison continues to present invention masked in simplicity, combining intelligence with emotional depth.

Buzz opens with Allison’s “Respiration,” a 9/4 piece that is insistent, with simple interweaving bass, piano and electric piano parts laying the groundwork for a snake-like horn theme ...

Ben Allison: Buzz

by Jim Santella
May 3, 2004

Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel have a history of going against the grain, with their provocative form of New York jazz. Allison has said that “a composition should create a landscape in which a musician can freely explore and find an individual voice.”

With its fourth release, however, Medicine Wheel turns collective and moves its circle closer to the center. Voices move together as one. Pleasant harmony and smooth rhythms support simple melodies. Their “New York buzz” ...

Ted Nash: Still Evolved

by Jim Santella
December 3, 2003

Ted Nash's work with Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Don Ellis, the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, the Herbie Nichols Project and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra has earned the saxophonist a reputation for living in the mainstream. At 43, he’s in a position to continue shaping the landscape of straight-ahead jazz through his innovative ideas.

The title of Still Evolved refers to the growth we’ve witnessed in the modern mainstream during the jazz resurgence of the ...

Ted Nash: Still Evolved

by C. Michael Bailey
October 9, 2003

Still Evolved can be heard as an accidental suite, a collection of compositions that hang together independent of design. Ted Nash is most recently holding down a tenor chair in the Kennedy Center Jazz Orchestra. Here he turns his attention to small group performance and composition... with a hurricane-like creative force. Mr. Nash has composed eight pieces for the standard trumpet-tenor quintet. And the music is a fresh as strawberries bursting on the roof of your mouth.

Besides ...

Ted Nash: Still Evolved

by Elliott Simon
October 7, 2003

Before he was 20, saxophonist Ted Nash had recorded his first record and had played with musicians as diverse as Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones and Don Cherry. Now, more than 20 years later, he is at home in both the up- and downtown worlds of NYC jazz as a part of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Jazz Composer’s Collective. With such connections, Nash is able to assemble the decidedly adventurous rhythm section of bassist Ben Allison, drummer Matt ...