Jazz Articles about The Nu Band

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The Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop

by Mike Jurkovic
January 14, 2022

The fearless improvised legacy of veteran, free bop sax man Mark Whitecage may not hold a prominent place in the immediate lexicon of upstarts and legends, but the man could blow his horn. Whitecage could dice and slice a piece of music, solemn or otherwise, to shreds with his sharp metallic, testosterone tone then reassemble it seamlessly with his long, flowing phrases. So it is fitting and more than welcome that he brings it big time on this final recording ...

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The Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop

by Dan McClenaghan
January 5, 2022

Multiple reedman Mark Whitecage (1937-2021) may not have enjoyed the profile he deserved, but he was an extraordinary improvisational free-jazz force who recorded prolifically for CIMP Records. Bassist Joe Fonda, a member of Whitecage's Nu Band, enjoyed a forty year musical involvement with the man, and In Memory Of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bop Shop is Fonda's posthumous tip of the hat to his old running mate. It is a recording bursting with the lifeforce --one ...

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The Nu Band: The Final Concert

by John Sharpe
February 19, 2017

The title refers to trumpeter Roy Campbell's last appearance with the outfit he founded with drummer Lou Grassi twelve years before. Campbell died in 2014 at the age of 61, 21 months after this March 2012 live date from Bad Hofgastein, Austria at the conclusion of a European tour. This limited edition LP constitutes the seventh entry in the band's discography and affirms their credentials at the pinnacle of the free-bop game. Both Campbell and reedman Mark ...

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The Nu Band: Live In Paris

by John Sharpe
December 31, 2010

An average of one album every other year is pretty good going for a free jazz collective, and that's what The Nu Band has achieved. Its fifth, Live In Paris, comes ten years after their first communion in 2000. It's also a departure, not in that it is a concert recording as there are already three of those in the discography, but in that, for the first time, the quartet showcases its considerable talents at instant composition. ...

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The Nu Band: The Dope and The Ghost: Live in Vienna

by Glenn Astarita
October 24, 2007

The Dope and The Ghost commences with Joe Fonda's retro, beatnik style walking bass lines and the artists' President Bush-bashing in front of a Viennese audience on “BushWacked. The political component sets the tone for the band's progressive jazz and improvisational forays. The members orate a denouncement for seemingly every policy that the President has put in place, setting high expectations for when the musical festivities would kick in. And the sparks really do fly when the band gets down ...

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The Nu Band: Live At The Bop Shop

by AAJ Staff
December 15, 2002

"Nu" is an apt term for the group leading this adventurous live outing. It's the first time these four veteran players have joined forces. It's only the second release on the new Portuguese Clean Feed label. And it documents the quartet's third (!) performance. “Nu" indeed.

But there's nothing new about these musicians. Each has his own history deep in the roots of the free/energy music continuum, and all have shared musical connections at one point or another ...