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Walt Weiskopf: Open Road
by C. Andrew Hovan
Since 1993, tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf has recorded some of the most advanced and satisfying music of the jazz genre. All told he claims over fifteen albums as a leader, with original compositions forming the core material of each and every one of his releases. The fact that he is not better known among the jazz buying public is simply inexplicable, although his long-standing association with Steely Dan hopefully has been turning a few ears in the direction of Weiskopf's ...
Continue ReadingWalt Weiskopf: Open Road
by David A. Orthmann
It all starts with the sound of Walt Weiskopf's tenor saxophone. Large, keening, expansive, his tone sometimes threatens to explode and wreak havoc on everything it touches. During lyrical passages and on ballads, he scales the sound back a little, waxing sensitive, tender, even poetic, but not abandoning its core--the moderation usually doesn't last very long. Whether executing a dizzying mass of phrases, braying a long bent note, hopscotching through a convoluted passage, or playing a relatively simple, unadorned melody, ...
Continue ReadingWalt Weiskopf: Open Road
by Blaine Fallis
"Premonition" was the perfect opening tune on Walt Weiskopf's Open Road album, because it sets the tone. It even matches the album cover...we're going somewhere fast, barely able to quite focus in due to the speed. But it's exciting! Bassist Mike Karn drives the band until 1:45 when he and pianist Peter Zak suddenly drop out, and the duo of Weiskopf and drummer Steve Fidyk keep pushing forward, as if during a high-speed corner two passengers couldn't hold ...
Continue ReadingWalt Weiskopf: Overdrive
by C. Andrew Hovan
Since making his first two records on the independent Iris label back in the early '90s, Walt Weiskopf has staked a claim as one of the most advanced and iconic tenor saxophonists in jazz. However, even as he went on to record one great record after another for Criss Cross beginning in 1993, Weiskopf remained under the radar of most listeners and seldom even registered on most critics polls. Over the past several years his profile has risen ...
Continue ReadingWalt Weiskopf: Overdrive
by David A. Orthmann
Here's a proposition for anyone who is about to plunk down their hard earned dollars on Steely Dan's Jamalot Ever After Tour. For a mere fraction of the cost of a ticket you can invest in a copy of Overdrive, the recently released set of original music by Walt Weiskopf, the band's longtime tenor saxophonist. A viable alternative to the pleasures of SD's warhorses, the disc has a “greatest hits" vibe of its own. It's a composite of the dozen ...
Continue ReadingWalt Weiskopf: Overdrive
by Dan Bilawsky
After a string of well-received dates on the Criss Cross imprint, and a one-off for the Capri label, tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf arrives at Posi-Tone with this pleasing sextet date. The music on Overdrive is all original, save for the penultimately-placed cover of Michel Legrand's “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?," and it affirms Weiskopf's commitment to (mostly) high energy, no-nonsense jazz. With saxophone, vibraphone, guitar, piano, bass, and drums, this band can be ...
Continue ReadingWalt Weiskopf Quartet: Live at Koger Hall
by AAJ Italy Staff
Documenta un concerto del 2008, alla Koger Hall della University of South Carolina, questo Live firmato dal Walt Weiskopf Quartet. Un disco che si snoda attraverso otto brani di media durata, che riescono a catturare l'attenzione di chi li ascolta per la genuinità di un jazz suonato con la giusta grinta, su tempi medio veloci e con una decisa coerenza stilistica. Approccio determinato dalla presenza in primo piano (quasi costante) del leader, che fin dal brano d'apertura “Man of Many ...
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