Articles by John Kelman
When is a Jazz Festival (Not) a Jazz Festival?
by John Kelman
This article was first published at All About Jazz on May 20, 2011. It's becoming almost pandemic for jazz festivals around the world to be challenged for deciding to broaden their programming into areas either peripherally related to jazz... or, in some cases, away from jazz entirely. Festivals like the near-iconic Montreux Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Ottawa International Jazz Festiva have become easy targets for purists, who are loudly proclaiming “This ...
read moreIs it OK for artists to pay writers for reviews?
by John Kelman
As a public service, we will periodically republish this article as it remains relevant and opportunists with dishonorable intentions are still out there operating without impunity. When did it become acceptable or common practice for artists to pay for an album review? Recently, All About Jazz writers have been asked by artists--and with increasing regularity--if they would write an album review for pay. We have also encountered writers actively soliciting musicians to pay for reviews... and ...
read moreBill Bruford: The Summerfold Collection 1987-2008
by John Kelman
Intrepid percussionist/composer/bandleader Bill Bruford began his career in the late '60s art-rock arena with Yes and, later, King Crimson, but jazz has always moved underneath, like an eddying current. His early recordings, well documented on the companion Winterfold Collection, may not speak the language of jazz, but they possess its spirit. By 1986, Bruford was looking for a new path. Crimson had again dissolved, the 1981-'84 incarnation having provided him with the opportunity to explore nascent electronic drum ...
read moreBill Bruford: The Winterfold Collection 1978-1986
by John Kelman
It's often easy to judge artists based on where they are now, but when you have a recorded legacy as rich as that of Bill Bruford, it's far better to view the body of work as a whole. As divergent as the intrepid percussionist/composer/bandleader's career has been, there are common threads running through all his work, making the earlier, electrified and amplified material on this Winterfold Collection fit contextually as a logical antecedent to his more recent unplugged and improvisation-centric ...
read moreSamuel Blaser: As the Sea
by John Kelman
Plenty has been written about musical camaraderie--the building of long-term musical relationships and their unmistakable impact on the evolution of a group. Few, however, discuss the inevitable impact of personal relationships behind the music. Times have changed, and few jazz groups tour for more than a couple of consecutive weeks; still, hitting the road for even two weeks is sure to mean plenty of “up close and personal" time amongst band members. Samuel Blaser's Boundless (hatOLOGY, 2011) was recorded during ...
read moreArve Henriksen: Solidification
by John Kelman
Constellations and the Something of Discovery Music as a chosen profession may suggest occupying the minds of its makers far beyond the 9-to-5 hours of your average job, but for some it goes further still. Transcending mere preoccupation, trumpeter Arve Henriksen seems to eat, drink, sleep and dream music, 24/7, 365 days a year. “I was sitting in my car recently, driving from Oslo to Gothenburg," Henriksen relates, “and I just started to sing and sing and sing. And I ...
read moreMarc Copland: Impressions
by John Kelman
Solo performances may approach presenting an artist at his or her most vulnerable, but it's in the context of the duo that they're the most exposed. Not only are their abilities, instincts and improvisational élan laid bare, but their communication skills, at the deepest level, are impossible to disguise. The good news is that, were pianist Marc Copland and saxophonist Dave Liebman in Hans Christian Andersen's famous children's story, “The Emperor's New Clothes," there'd be no child crying out, “But ...
read moreDewa Budjana: Joged Kahyangan
by John Kelman
Dewa Budjana may not be a household name outside of his native country, Indonesia, but with MoonJune Records picking up this exciting guitarist and composer, all that could be about to change. He's already garnered some serious attention with his first recording for the label, Dawai in Paradise, released earlier this year (2013), but at home, he's nothing short of a pop star. Lead guitarist and songwriter for the multi-platinum, million-selling Indonesian pop/rock group Gigi, the fifty year-old Budjana has ...
read moreDewa Budjana: Surya Namaskar
by John Kelman
There was a time when artists were able to release albums on their own schedule rather than that of the record label. While most jazz artists release, at most, one album a year these days, for some there's an even longer gap between recordings. For the most part, the days when an artist like Miles Davis was releasing two, three, sometimes even four albums in the space of a single year are long gone. There are a number of reasons ...
read moreDwiki Dharmawan: Pasar Klewer
by John Kelman
Indonesian keyboard star Dwiki Dharmawan returns following his 2015 MoonJune Records debut, the more fusion-heavy So Far, So Close, with the even more ambitious Pasar Klewer. This vibrant, acoustic piano-driven two-CD set features the cream of Britain's younger expat crop, blending with Indonesian musicians to create a passionate, seamless cultural cross-pollination. Bassist Yaron Stavi and drummer/percussionist Asaf Sirkis form the core trio with Dharmawan, while reed multi-instrumentalist Gilad Atzmon, Gamelan musical virtuoso Aris Daryono and guitarists Nicolas Meier ...
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