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Chet Doxas: You Can't Take It With You
by Jerome Wilson
Tenor saxophonist Chet Doxas has been getting attention in recent years by collaborating with prominent musicians such as Dave Douglas and Carla Bley. On this album he explores his own compositions in a trio with two sympathetic partners, pianist Ethan Iverson and bassist Thomas Morgan. Doxas' music here falls into one of two general styles, slippery blues-inflected pieces reminiscent of Jimmy Giuffre's trios with Jim Hall or more abstract work where the three musicians take on roles complementary to each ...
Continue ReadingJen Shyu and Jade Tongue: Zero Grasses: Ritual for The Losses
by Hrayr Attarian
Calling vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu brilliant, and her style unique, underestimates both her ingenuity as a composer and the distinctiveness of her oeuvre. Shyu has forged her own path in creative music with an intrepid spirit and restless innovation. Her eighth release as a leader is the intensely personal Zero Grasses: Ritual For The Losses. A cycle of songs which is equally about bereavement and injustice as it is about solace and hope, its message transcends the individual, reaching ...
Continue ReadingDahveed Behroozi: Echoes
by Dan McClenaghan
On his sophomore effort, West Coast-based pianist Dahveed Behroozi goes into a deeply atmospheric mode on Echoes. He is joined by a pair of blue ribbon sidemen in this piano trio affair. Drummer Billy Mintz, as a drummer-texturalist, is in a league with past greats Paul Motian and Jon Christensen, creating off-kilter, unsettled weather systems of his own, whether on one of his own too-infrequent recording or his work with pianist Roberta Piket, saxophonist John Gross, or pianist Hal Galper. ...
Continue ReadingRon Miles: Rainbow Sign
by Mario Calvitti
Per il suo esordio su etichetta Blue Note, il trombettista Ron Miles riunisce nuovamente il quintetto stellare con cui aveva inciso il precedente I Am a Man, Bill Frisell alla chitarra, Brian Blade alla batteria, Jason Moran al piano e Thomas Morgan al contrabbasso. Il gruppo era a sua volta l'evoluzione di un trio con Frisell e Blade che aveva già realizzato due album, Quiver e Circuit Rider, per non parlare di Heaven in duo con Frisell oltre alle numerose ...
Continue ReadingDan McCarthy: A Place Where We Once Lived
by Friedrich Kunzmann
In light of Dan McCarthy's stunning new effort, the vibraphonist's last two outings, Abstract City (Origin Records, 2019) and Epoch (Origin Records, 2019), can be regarded as statements of intent. Both more than noteworthy musical offerings at opposite ends of the jazz spectrum (discussed on All About Jazz here ), the two albums give followers a good idea of Dan McCarthy's flawless craftsmanship and wide range. On A Place Where We Once Lived the Canadian vibraphonist combines the lyrical melodic ...
Continue ReadingRon Miles: Rainbow Sign
by Paul Rauch
Denver-based cornetist Ron Miles seemed to turn an important creative corner with the release of his last album, I Am a Man (Yellowbird, 2017). With a stellar band in tow, he seemed to have gathered the elements to produce something very original. This was not an easy task, considering the ardent individuality represented by the session's participants. Indeed, guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Jason Moran, drummer Brian Blade and bassist Thomas Morgan had all made major impressions on the landscape of ...
Continue ReadingRon Miles: Rainbow Sign
by Ian Patterson
The symbolism of the rainbow varies from one culture to the next, and not all interpretations are positive, but the notion of the rainbow as a pathway between this life and the afterlife is perhaps the most pertinent for Ron Miles. Rainbow Sign, the Blue Note debut of the Colorado-based cornetist, was mostly written as his father was passing away in the summer of 2018, so it is no surprise that the music has a reflective, poignant quality. Reunited with ...
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