Home » Jazz Articles » Wayne Krantz
Jazz Articles about Wayne Krantz
Wayne Krantz: Back on Track
by Ian Patterson
Guitarist Wayne Krantz is one of the great non-conformists. An improviser who avoids stylistic limitations and cliche like the plague, his music draws from diverse elements and welds them sonically to create something quite personal. Krantz has turned his back on recording studios for the last 15 years, choosing instead to release live shows through his own Website. After a month or so, these recordings are removed, as Krantz has little interest in the work which lies behind ...
Continue ReadingWayne Krantz: Your Basic Live ‘06
by AAJ Italy Staff
Il chitarrista Wayne Krantz ha da tempo deciso di fare a meno del contributo delle case discografiche tradizionali e gestisce la distribuzione della sua musica dal proprio sito. In questo modo mette a disposizione moltissime registrazioni dal vivo che possono essere scaricate pagando una modica cifra. Poi ogni tanto estrae il meglio delle sue performance live e realizza un CD come quello qui in esame. Troviamo Wayne Krantz sempre impegnato in trio, la formula che evidentemente preferisce e al suo ...
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 ReadingWayne Krantz Gives You the Basics
by Robert Krevolin
It's a blistering cold Thursday night in New York City. They say it's one of the coldest we've had in the last decade. Only a few brave the cold peril for anything other than work, and if they dare it might only be a short run for late night eats or a quick Scotch to settle the mind. But the Scandanavian weather conditions don't seem to bother the people waiting to get into the 55-Bar tonight to see Wayne Krantz ...
Continue Reading
