Andy Laster

Phil Haynes: 4 Horns & What? – The Complete American Recordings

by Alberto Bazzurro
July 8, 2024

Con minime variazioni fra le diverse edizioni di questo suo gruppo così particolare (quattro fiati più batteria), sicuramente in grado di esprimere (verrebbe da dire “esporre") al meglio le sue doti di compositore e “demiurgo" musicale in senso lato, Phil Haynes, oggi sessantatreenne, riunisce tre sedute d'incisione (l'ultima dal vivo) datate rispettivamente 1989, 1991 e 1995, oltre tre ore e un quarto di musica serratissima (salvo i brevi parlati introduttivi dell'ultimo volume), ricchissima sia sotto il profilo, appunto, compositivo, che ...

Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Entity

by Neri Pollastri
November 29, 2021

Undicesimo album per l'Orchestra New York di Satoko Fujii, qui composta di tredici elementi, dei quali ben nove già presenti nel primo lavoro, South Wind, risalente al lontano 1997. Il disco è registrato nel maggio del 2019 ed è uscito già lo scorso anno, ma merita egualmente grande attenzione, in quanto si tratta di un lavoro di primissimo livello. Né poteva essere diversamente, considerando non solo la qualità media, altissima, delle produzioni della musicista giapponese, ma anche l'organico straordinario della ...

Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Entity

by Dan McClenaghan
February 4, 2020

Pianist / composer Satoko Fujii has staked out her ground as one of the most original voices in jazz—or in any artform, for that matter. She has released more than eighty albums, beginning with her 1995 debut, Something About Water (Libra Records), a piano duet set with Paul Bley. She tours relentlessly. She records in every ensemble format imaginable: solos, duos, trios, quartets and big bands. Lots of big bands, based in Berlin, Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya, New York.

Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Entity

by Karl Ackermann
January 26, 2020

As she did in 2019, pianist/composer Satoko Fujii—an artist at home in many formations—opens the new decade with an orchestra recording. Entity, from Fujii's Orchestra New York, is the eleventh release from the ensemble that has remained largely intact for almost twenty-three years. It is an all-star collective that includes saxophonists Oscar Noriega, Ellery Eskelin and Tony Malaby, trumpeters Natsuki Tamura and Herb Robertson, guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Ches Smith. Entity has its moments of tranquility but ...

Andy Laster's Lessness: Window Silver Bright

by Glenn Astarita
September 13, 2002

Saxophonist/composer Andy Laster has consistently yet somewhat quietly produced some of the most thoughtful modern jazz recordings in recent years. With this release, the artist puts aside his alto and performs exclusively on baritone sax.

Laster has manifested a definitive style and approach while often utilizing the crème de la crème of New York City’s divergent jazz community. He integrates a chamber, or contemporary classical component into his multi-layered fabrics of sound - consisting of stirring jazz ...

Interview: Andy Laster

Source: Ars Nova Workshop
October 19, 2010

Clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer Andy Laster has been involved in New York City’s jazz scene since the mid-1980s, when he relocated upon completing studies at Seattle’s Cornish Institute. Since then he has worked with musicians such as Julius Hemphill, Hank Roberts, Cuong Vu, and Erik Friedlander. In preparation for this week’s performance by his Sounds of Cairo ensemble – featuring Curtis Hasselbring on trombone, Alex Waterman on cello, and Kermit Driscoll on bass – Ars Nova Workshop asked Laster a ...
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