Articles by John Sharpe

Album Review

Kris Davis Trio: Lost In Geneva

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by John Sharpe
November 5, 2026

On Lost In Geneva, pianist Kris Davis extends the compositional and improvisational inquiry of Run The Gauntlet (Pyroclastic, 2024), deepening her interplay with bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Johnathan Blake. While the trio does not attempt to reinvent the format--bass and drums adroitly take care of business--it nonetheless subtly flexes the language. As well as tonal improvisations, the group also buys into Davis' singular writing, integrating nagging diversions and passages of minimalist patterning alongside the melodic invention and driving beat. ...

Album Review

Marty Ehrlich: Open Air: The Complete Saxophone Quartet Compositions Of Julius Hemphill

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by John Sharpe
November 4, 2026

Julius Hemphill's saxophone quartets reveal a compositional imagination as resourceful as it is distinctive. In assembling all of Hemphill's known works for the format, reedman Marty Ehrlich brings a remarkable body of music into sharp focus, foregrounding the harmonic ingenuity and structural precision that can be obscured by extensive improvisation. Hemphill, best known as a founding member and principal composer of the World Saxophone Quartet (WSQ), wrote consistently for reed ensembles from 1977 until his death in 1995. ...

Album Review

Arkady Gotesman: Music For An Imaginary Ballet

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by John Sharpe
November 3, 2026

On Music For An Imaginary Ballet, Lithuanian drummer Arkady Gotesman assembles a suite of pieces that act as a vibrant career-spanning résumé of his practice. During that time he has collaborated with every major Lithuanian jazz figure, including reedist Petras Vysniauskas with whom he released PetrArka (ITM Records), the first-ever Lithuanian jazz CD, in 1990. In addition, as one of his country's leading improvisers, Gotesman is often matched with visiting luminaries, several of whom appear on selections here.

Album Review

Bobby Bradford / Mark Dresser / Hafez Modirzadeh: Sonic House Reunion

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by John Sharpe
October 27, 2026

On Sonic House Reunion, three long-time colleagues confirm that familiarity in no way dilutes depth of expression. Cornetist Bobby Bradford and saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh boast a fertile track record, affirmed by discs such as Live At The Blue Whale (NoBusiness, 2019), Live At The Magic Triangle (NoBusiness, 2017) and Live At The Open Gate (NoBusiness, 2016). Bassist Mark Dresser joined on the last of these, and he rounds out the trio here too. Together they combine for a relaxed session ...

Album Review

GEORGE: Looking for Consonance

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by John Sharpe
October 26, 2026

The thing about George--named after George Floyd--is that it allows drummer John Hollenbeck to do almost anything he likes. On the group's second release, Looking for Consonance, he blends elements of prog, avant jazz, pop, ambient, folk, noise and more into an intoxicating, sometimes inscrutable, whole. To abet him in the project, he has recruited an unconventional electro-acoustic lineup of reedist Anna Webber, the vocals and synthesizers of Sarah Rossy and Chiquita Magic, all unchanged from the debut.

Book Review

Energy Center: A History Of Studio Rivbea

by John Sharpe
October 18, 2026

Energy Center: A History Of Studio Rivbea Ed Hazell 324 Pages ISBN: 978-5-415-02882-5 NoBusiness Records 2026 Multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers helped reshape New York's jazz landscape not only through his music but by creating Studio Rivbea, an independent space for rehearsal, education and performance that gave adventurous musicians room to develop and play on their own terms. In Energy Center, Ed Hazell chronicles the pioneering Lower East Side venue, from its founding in 1973 ...

Album Review

Lao Dan / Vasco Trilla: New Species

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by John Sharpe
October 17, 2026

A fortuitous meeting between Spanish drummer Vasco Trilla and Chinese reed player Lao Dan at a festival in the latter's homeland led to a concert and subsequent studio session. Yet it is that first encounter, recorded at Old Heaven Books in Shenzhen, a hub of the country's improvised-music scene, that New Species preserves. Both musicians share an experimental outlook and prove well matched, with Dan among the better-known Chinese practitioners to Western ears and Trilla commanding a formidable reputation as ...

Album Review

Satoko Fujii - Myra Melford: Katarahi

by John Sharpe
October 17, 2026

On Katarahi, pianists Satoko Fujii and Myra Melford revel not in contrasts but in empathy. Although no longer the novelty they once were, piano duets exist in a rarefied plain. For a start, few venues or studios possess two high-quality grand pianos. Then the widescreen potential of the piano, with its possibilities for voices in each hand, throws down a challenge to would-be collaborators: can you do something more worthwhile together than you could do individually? Fujii and Melford answer ...

Album Review

Daniel Carter / Sabir Mateen / William Parker / Lou Grassi: Keeping It In Context

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by John Sharpe
September 30, 2026

This resounding blast from the past affirms drummer Lou Grassi's decision to flip from mainly commercial music to the adventurous end of the spectrum. He recorded Keeping It In Context in a 1996 session with some of New York City's finest avant practitioners following PoGressions (CJR, 1996), the date that led to him first dipping his toe in the free jazz waters. However, over time he forgot about the tapes. But when they resurfaced in 2023, their quality was immediately ...

Album Review

Trevor Watts / Barry Guy / Ramon Lopez: The First Touch

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by John Sharpe
September 29, 2026

Trevor Watts and Barry Guy's near 60-year musical acquaintance yields an immediacy that continues undiminished on The First Touch. Recorded live in Poland in 2025 with drummer Ramon Lopez, a frequent cohort of the bassist, the seven tracks capture a trio whose empathy is matched by its appetite for risk. Although Watts' saxophones and Guy's bass naturally define the conversation, Lopez exerts a similarly decisive influence, propelling the performance through abrupt shifts of density, register and momentum. In ...