Home » Jazz Articles » Ulysses Owens, Jr.
Jazz Articles about Ulysses Owens, Jr.
Steven Feifke Big Band: Kinetic
by Jack Bowers
Jazz connoisseurs who lean toward big bands that swing as earnestly and often as the renowned architects of the epic big-band era should find plenty to cheer about on Kinetic, the debut recording by New York-based pianist, composer and arranger Steven Feifke's audacious and fiery ensemble. This is a band that fires on all cylinders—but it couldn't even leave the garage unless Feifke supplied the fuel. With one exception (noted below), Feifke's intense and high-powered charts neatly pave the way, ...
Continue ReadingSteven Feifke Big Band: Kinetic
by Angelo Leonardi
Assimilare la tradizione per poi creare cose originali. È questo il percorso che hanno seguito e continuano a seguire i musicisti jazz, in forme e approfondimenti diversi. A 30 anni esatti il pianista Steven Feifke è ancora al primo passo ma in questo scintillante debutto orchestrale dimostra di avere tutte le carte in regola per sviluppare percorsi originali. Kinetic è infatti un esempio del miglior modern mainstream orchestrale, elaborato sulle lezioni di Thad Jones e Mel Lewis, ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Give It All You Got
by Kyle Simpler
Jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell once discussed his views on playing music by making a point that, “you are unique, be yourself, put out that thing that is you, then use your work ethic and produce great music." Trombonist Michael Dease embodies the spirit of Burrell's statement. Dease is a dedicated musician who is rapidly making a name for himself as both a recording artist and an educator. He won the Downbeat Critics Poll for rising star trombonist along with winning ...
Continue ReadingJohn Beasley: MONK'estra Plays John Beasley
by Jim Worsley
In 2016 John Beasley gifted us with John Beasley Presents Monk'estra Volume 1 (Mack Avenue). The buzz of that superb record led to John Beasley Presents Monk'estra Volume 2 (Mack Avenue, 2017). Both records were Grammy nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. They were both more than Grammy worthy, but alas the competition is fierce. Beasley has been more than a Thelonious Monk fan throughout his life, including his now over forty years in the music industry. ...
Continue ReadingBenny Benack III: A Lot of Livin' to Do
by Angelo Leonardi
Non ancora trentenne Benny Benack III conferma il talento espresso nell'esordio di tre anni fa One of a Kind, con un album frizzante e coinvolgente, dove ritroviamo la baldanza del trombettista neo bop e l'esuberanza del vocalist in equilibrio tra crooner e vocalese. Il rischio d'essere scambiato come un epigono di Harry Connick Jr. e Michael Bublé è concreto ma Benny ha molte frecce al suo arco: ottima educazione musicale (doppia laurea alla Manhattan School of Music), ...
Continue ReadingAlicia Olatuja: Intuition: Songs From The Minds Of Women
by Angelo Leonardi
È un tributo alla creatività delle donne in generale e delle cantautrici in particolare, questo di Alicia Olatuja, che interpreta composizioni di Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell, Violeta Parra, Sade Adu, Kate Bush e altre. Alicia ne aggiunge di proprie e partecipa come arrangiatrice in un progetto fortemente sentito e condiviso col produttore Kamau Kenyatta, noto per il suo ruolo nel successo di Gregory Porter, e con Ulysses Owens Jr. Alicia Olatuja è una versatile mezzosoprano, maturata ...
Continue ReadingBenny Benack III: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
by Dan Bilawsky
Benny Benack III does it all. A trumpeter, vocalist, writer and arranger with a swaggering soul and the chops to back up the panache, he's clearly done his fair share of living already. He may be young—only at the tail end of his twenties, believe it or not—but he seriously has his act together in every way, shape and form, as this album proves. Fronting a tight quartet with Takeshi Ohbayashi on piano, Christian McBride on bass ...
Continue Reading
