Articles by Hrayr Attarian
Gustavo Cortinas: Live in Chicago
by Hrayr Attarian
Chicago composer and drummer Gustavo Cortinas is a musician with a message, one of social justice. He delivers it in a style that fuses the melodic sensibilities of his ancestral Mexico with the complex syncopations of jazz. The exciting Live in Chicago documents an unedited, two-set concert that was recorded at Constellation Chicago on December 15, 2022. The quintet interprets ten Cortinas originals, some of which appeared on his magnum opus, the multifaceted and provocative Desafío Candente (Woolgathering, 2021).
read moreErnesto Cervini: A Canadian Songbook
by Hrayr Attarian
Composer and drummer Ernesto Cervini is a stalwart of the Canadian creative music scene both as an artist and promoter. His ninth release as a leader, the captivating A Canadian Songbook, is a collection of seven intricate pieces, composed by him and other compatriots. Cervini, at the head of his sextet Turboprop, deftly balances collective harmony and individual expressions and delivers all with refreshing spontaneity. The leader starts off his arrangement of pianist James Hill's Skeletons" with sparse ...
read moreIvo Perelman's Two Stimulating Albums from January of 2024: Interaction and Truth Seeker
by Hrayr Attarian
Innovative Brazilian saxophonist and master improviser Ivo Perelman is as prolific as he is imaginative. With close to 100 recordings under his belt Perelman is always pushing the proverbial envelope looking for fresh ways to express himself. Having lived in various cities around the world--and currently splitting his time between Fortaleza Brazil and New York City--Perelman has been exposed to multiple cultures. The influences of these are heard in his various works. A pair of releases from 2024, each with ...
read moreSteve Bomar Trio at the Fulton Street Collective
by Hrayr Attarian
Steve Bomar Trio Fulton Street Collective Chicago, IL March 19, 2024 jny: Chicago's Fulton Street Collective is a community of artists with studio space, exhibition areas and a performance venue. It is housed in a beautiful brick industrial building on the Near West Side of the city. On this night it hosted a double bill of drummer-led bands. The first set was drummer Steve Bomar's trio. The group masterfully interpreted several standards and an original ...
read moreJustin Chart: Keep The Blue
by Hrayr Attarian
Not all entirely improvised music necessarily embraces dissonance and atonality, however stimulating that may be. Saxophonist Justin Chart is famous for spontaneously creating entire sets, whether in the studio or in live settings, that are firmly rooted in mainstream sounds. His output is consistently cinematic and absorbing with a mysterious aura. His Keep the Blue is the quintessential soundtrack looking for a film, a classic film noir to be exact. The twelve tracks recorded at the Mixx in ...
read moreYuhan Su: Liberated Gesture
by Hrayr Attarian
A remarkable feature of vibraphonist Yuhan Su's captivating fourth release as a leader, LIberated Gesture, is its cohesiveness and narrative quality. Even though only three tracks are part of a suite, common motifs and logical transitions interconnect all ten. This and the sublime balance between the emotional and the cerebral endows the work with its enchanting impressionism. Pianist Matt Mitchell sets an expectant mood on Naked Swimmer" with his percussive and sparse chords. Mitchell, together with drummer Dan ...
read moreCecilia Quinteros: Narel
by Hrayr Attarian
Argentinian cellist Cecilia Quinteros' oeuvre has encompassed the western classical idiom, jazz, improvised music and interdisciplinary projects with dancers. After several collaborative recordings Quinteros has released her first solo album, the award winning seven movement Narel. This is a mesmerizing suite that demonstrates Quinteros' brilliance as a composer and virtuosity as a performer. The individual tracks exhibit Quinteros' various influences. For instance, the recording opens with the angular, overdubbed refrains of the first segment that create an eerie ...
read moreIvo Perelman, Nate Wooley, Mat Maneri, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Joe Morris, Matt Moran: Seven Skies Orchestra
by Hrayr Attarian
Ever the intrepid innovator, saxophonist Ivo Perelman takes his music in a new direction on the double-disc set, Seven Skies Orchestra. After a long series, primarily of duets, Perelman returns to a larger ensemble setting, a sextet in this case. That is not the only difference between this release and his previous output; the music here, although still entirely improvised and easily recognizable as Perelman's, moves in a more spacious, contemplative direction, less introspective and more outgoing. Vibraphonist ...
read moreHrayr Attarian's Best Jazz Albums Of 2023
by Hrayr Attarian
There are many best of year lists that cover the essential releases of 2023. In order not to repeat what others have done, more eloquently than me, I might add, I decided to list ten albums that personally spoke" to me over the past year. They cover wide range of styles and feature an international cast of artists. Ivo Perelman Molten Gold Fundacja Słuchaj! Shawn Maxwell
read moreThree Gems of Creative Music from Relative Pitch: Works by Madison Greenstone, Camila Nebbia, and Maria Valencia
by Hrayr Attarian
Over the past dozen years, the New York-based label Relative Pitch has diligently promoted improvised music. Founded by Kevin Reilly and the late Mike Panico, the imprint boasts a roster of artists that range from stalwarts in the field of creative music to promising newcomers. Below are reviews of three prodigious woodwind players' solo 2023 releases. Madison Greenstone Resonance Studies in Ecstatic Consciousness Relative Pitch 2023 Clarinetist Madison Greenstone is well known in ...
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