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Walt Weiskopf at The Turning Point Cafe
by David A. Orthmann
Walt Weiskopf The Turning Point Cafe Piermont, NY March 30, 2009
Forty-five minutes prior to starting time at The Turning Point Cafe, Walt Weiskopf's tenor saxophone stood alone like a statute atop a table right next to the bandstand. Weiskopf is best known for ten recordings as a leader on the Criss Cross Jazz imprint which feature his compositions played by a cohort of some of New York City's significant mainstream players. The ...
Continue ReadingWalt Weiskopf: Day In Night Out
by C. Andrew Hovan
Most of us find that there are certain musicians who speak to us through their music in a profound way that makes for a special connection. These are the artists who find a prominent space in our collections because we continuously seek out all of their current musical endeavors. For this reviewer, saxophonist Walt Weiskopf has always been a musician to watch. Not to take anything away from other jazz saxophonists, but Weiskopf's musical persona is the complete package. He ...
Continue ReadingDonald Fagen: Morph the Cat
by Woodrow Wilkins
There's an engaging quality to Donald Fagen's songwriting and perfectionism that makes Steely Dan fans flock to his solo albums. While The Nightfly (1982) and Kamakiriad (1993) were expressly Fagen, Morph the Cat closely resembles Steely Dan without Walter Becker. The lineup partially reflects the ensemble that recorded the Dan's 2003 release, Everything Must Go, and toured with the group that year. The cast includes drummer Keith Carlock, guitarists Hugh McCracken and Jon Herington, and trombonist Lawrence Feldman. An assortment ...
Continue ReadingDonald Fagen: Morph the Cat
by AAJ Italy Staff
Donald Fagen sta al rock come Duke Ellington stava al jazz. Non sarà per i continui attestati di stima che la mente degli Steely Dan spesso gli tributa, ma l’attitudine nella creazione e nell’arrangiamento, l’eleganza nella scelta timbrica e armonica, la condotta delle parti e la ricerca melodica come filo labile da cucire nella stoffa preziosa della song form, rimandano spesso agli insegnamenti di Ellington. L’altro elemento portante e decisivo è la letterarietà dei testi. A volte criptici, a volte ...
Continue ReadingDonald Fagen: Morph The Cat
by Mike Perciaccante
Donald Fagen's third solo CD, his first such recording in thirteen years, blends jazz, soul, funk and just about every other musical influence you can name on nine new songs whose subject matter runs the gamut. The eclectic songs on Morph The Cat cover some interesting topics: a romantic interlude with an airport security guard ("Security Joan"); a conversation with the ghost of the late Ray Charles ("What I Do"); mortality ("Brite Nightgown"); and a cult taking over the US ...
Continue ReadingDonald Fagen: Morph The Cat
by John Kelman
Sometimes tight-knit teams like Donald Fagen and Walter Becker--better known as Steely Dan--make it difficult to determine what each individual brings to the table. It's no secret that Becker and Fagen have strong jazz sensibilities, not to mention an affection for Tin Pan Alley, having started out as staff writers for ABC Records before realizing their music was too sophisticated for the artists they were writing for. But Fagen's previous solo albums--Nightfly (Reprise, 1982) and Kamikiriad (Reprise, 1993)--and Becker's 11 ...
Continue ReadingWalt Weiskopf: The New Mainstream
by C. Andrew Hovan
Despite the fact that his name doesn't show up on magazine polls and is equally scarce among those few jazz guide books on the market, make no mistake about the fact that Walt Weiskopf is easily one of the most mature and fully individualistic saxophonists and composers to come along in the last ten to fifteen years. Possibly because of the fact that he chooses to work within the mainstream tradition and record for the small Dutch-based Criss Cross Jazz ...
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