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Luke Stewart
Janel Leppin: Ensemble Volcanic Ash: Pluto In Aquarius
by Don Ball
Janel Leppin's title choice for her 2026 Ensemble Volcanic Ash (EVA) recording gives a hint of what kind of music to expect. Pluto being in Aquarius is a momentous sign, one of change and tension, and lasts 20 years (we are currently in one such phase). The last time Pluto was in Aquarius was 1777 to 1798--during the American and French Revolutions. Whether you believe in the astronomy or not, the Pluto in Aquarius is certainly bursting with tension and ...
Continue ReadingIrreversible Entanglements: Future Present Past
by Jack Kenny
Irreversible Entanglements do not deliver coded music. Frustrated by music that only claims to carry a message, the quintet--Camae Ayewa, Luke Stewart, Keir Neuringer, Aquiles Navarro and Tcheser Holmes--fuses long-form improvisation, groove, and spoken word into a contemporary extension of the 1960s and '70s Black avant-garde. They originally came together to protest a police brutality event in 2015 and have remained explicitly oriented toward Black liberation around the world. Across their records, they consistently navigate the space between ...
Continue ReadingAngelika Niescier: Chicago Tapes
by Glenn Astarita
When German alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier first explored Chicago jazz a few years ago--teaming with cellist Tomeka Reid on the striking Beyond Dragons (Intakt, 2023)--the collaboration sparked something unmistakably electric. Now comes Chicago Tapes,, recorded live at Transient Sound Studio. Here, Niescier dives headlong into the improvisational deep end of the city, enlisting an all-star lineup drawn from the restless creative core of Chicago's boundary-pushers. Niescier wields her alto alongside Dave Rempis, who toggles between alto and tenor ...
Continue ReadingAngelika Niescier: Chicago Tapes
by Troy Dostert
Continuing to solidify her reputation as a double-threat composer and improviser, alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier shines once again with Chicago Tapes, a superlative effort which sees her uniting with a number of the leading figures in the Windy City scene. The results are consistently riveting, showcasing these musicians in myriad ways and generating infectious synergy throughout. Niescier thrives in small-combo configurations, as she demonstrated convincingly on earlier outings like Beyond Dragons (Intakt, 2023) with cellist Tomeka Reid and ...
Continue ReadingAngelika Niescier: Chicago Tapes
by Mark Corroto
German saxophonist Angelika Niescier first connected with her musical compatriots during a visit to the U.S. Midwest in 2012, though it would take more than a decade for that relationship to fully crystallize on record. Even that timeline needs qualification. In 2023, she recorded Beyond Dragons in Chicago with cellist Tomeka Reid and California-born New York City>> drummer {{m: Savannah Harris. Still, her 2025 return to the Windy City for Chicago Tapes feels like both a culmination and a celebration, ...
Continue ReadingMarshall Allen's Ghost Horizons: Live in Philadelphia
by Mark Corroto
In 2025, the Collegium Cardinalium, or College of Cardinals--a body formed in the Middle Ages--convened a conclave in Rome to elect a new Pope for the Catholic Church. Nearly five centuries before the inception of such conclaves, Tibetan Buddhists established their own process of succession by searching for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, often discovered in the form of a child. These spiritual traditions of succession are vital for preserving the identity, rituals and philosophies of their institutions. Each ...
Continue ReadingLuke Stewart, Silvia Bolognesi & Alexander Hawkins
by Maurice Hogue
I confess to having a thing about basses, particularly of the acoustic kind, so I got all excited when the latest Luke Stewart album rolled in. About to do a gig with his Remembrance Quintet, he change course and combined musicians from his Silt Trio and the Quintet for a live gig which was recorded with the result, the truly ass-kicking The Order. Italian bassist Silvia Bolognesi's album Is That Jazz? was also recorded live, but its origin was different. ...
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Music
Luke Stewart
Location: New York City
Instrument: Bass, acoustic
