Home » Jazz Articles » Uri Caine
Jazz Articles about Uri Caine
Uri Caine/Bedrock: Shelf-Life

by AAJ Staff
If Uri Caine's first Bedrock album was a warning shot across the bow, Shelf-Life is an outright broadside. The keyboard player's 2001 trio record with drummer Zach Danziger and bassist Tim Lefebvre blended electric jazz with contemporary and neo-retro styles, heading adventurously into a no man's land of beats, jams, and freaky madness. This followup (a hefty seventy minutes' worth) is even more mixed up, aided in no small part by a guest list ten players long.
Depending ...
Continue ReadingUri Caine: Live at the Village Vanguard

by AAJ Staff
It was much easier on us jazz critics when discs used to just barely break the half-hour mark. Jazz is often dense, complex music which requires a great deal of attention to decipher, and we've got piles of the stuff to get through. Which is why, as good as it is--and it's often spectacularly good--Uri Caine's Live at the Village Vanguard almost feels like a comeuppance. Weighing in at a whopping 76:46 minutes, longer by far than any one jazz ...
Continue ReadingUri Caine: Live At The Village Vanguard

by Mark Sabbatini
With an artist as diverse and sometimes eclectic as Uri Caine, it’s worth noting first and foremost this album delivers what the title promises: a relatively straightforward jazz trio gig that should satisfy fans and new listeners.
Live At The Village Vanguard features the pianist in a nearly non-stop blowout session of mostly original tunes with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Ben Perowsky. Caine, perhaps best known for wild reinterpretations of classical composes such as Bach and ...
Continue ReadingUri Caine Trio: Live At The Village Vanguard

by AAJ Staff
Pianist Uri Caine has a tendency toward a thematic approach, but it's refreshing to hear him simply return to roots. With this live acoustic trio date alongside bassist Drew Gress and drummer Ben Perowsky he does what he does best: just play, and see where it goes. That relatively informal approach, combined with the fact that this recording is almost 77 minutes long (!), make it a savory hunk of musical meat.
Live was recorded over the course ...
Continue ReadingUri Caine Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard

by John Kelman
In a world filled with piano trios that are entrenched in furthering the impressionism of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, Uri Caine stands out as a pianist/composer whose reach is far broader. British reed player Tim Garland once described saxophonist Joe Lovano as someone who looks forward and backwards simultaneously, covering the whole tradition, yet looking way, way forward at the same time." The same thing could be said about Caine. After a string of concept albums that have covered ...
Continue ReadingUri Caine's Bedrock 3 in Tampere: Too Many DJs

by Matthew Wuethrich
Old Customs Hall Tampere, Finland November 1, 2003
DJs have been playing more and more with live bands during the past decade and by now the novelty effect has worn off. Now bands must make creative use of the DJ for it to be effective. At the Tampere Jazz Happening, Uri Caine’s Bedrock3 doesn't. DJ Olive, who makes exciting turntable music on his own, never meshes with keyboardist Uri Caine, bassist Tim Lefebrve and drummer Zach ...
Continue ReadingFrancois Carrier Trio with Uri Caine: All' Alba

by Alexander M. Stern
French Canadian alto saxophonist Francois Carrier has made a career out of being unpredictable. All' Alba, his latest CD, is yet another pleasant surprise. The surprise here, however, is not Carrier's melodic inventiveness, nor is it bassist Pierre Cote and drummer Michel Lambert's highly sympathetic vibrations. In this case, the surprise is the welcome addition of adventurous pianist Uri Caine to Carrier's usual lineup.
Carrier's alto is rough and sinewy, as always. His sheer brawn as a soloist ...
Continue Reading