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Dave Sewelson: Smooth FreeJazz
by Mark Corroto
If you're a lover of adventurous music, you've certainly had the following experience. You take a seat in a coffee house or even worse in your dentist's chair and out of the speakers flows (stifle your tears) smooth jazz. You might welcome the John Cage—ian sound of the espresso frothier or the Merzbow noise of the dentist's drill to liberate your ears from the banal music. Never fear, to the rescue comes Dave Sewelson and his Smooth FreeJazz
read moreMike Neer: Steelonious
by C. Michael Bailey
Early in his musical career, pianist and composer Thelonious Monk was ordained the “Hight Priest of Bebop." This sounds more like a disingenuous pronouncement by an overeager period critic than any credible music reportage. Monk's essential musical approach owed more to stride, blues, and swing than to Charlie Parker's and Dizzy Gillespie's bebop. Monk's technical brilliance, if one could call it that, was not geared toward the “technique" of rapid and complexly rendered chord changes. Monk's brilliance lay somewhere much ...
read moreMike Neer: Keepin' It Real
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
When I last posted on Mike Neer in 2016, he had just released an album called Steelonious, a tribute album to Thelonious Monk performed on the lap steel guitar. What wouldn't seem like a good fit turned out to be a happy marriage. Monk interpreted by Mike on a lap steel guitar gave the music enormous energy and edge. Mike is now back with his steel guitar, only this time his instrument has a Hawaiian punch and a superb collection ...
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Mike Neer: Steelonious
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
I'm not a big fan of Thelonious Monk tribute albums. Heck, I'm not even keen on other musicians including his songs on their albums. No matter how accomplished the artist, Monk's music always feels like those paint-by-the-numbers coloring books from when I was a kid. Only Monk can bring the essential soul and turmoil to his music. It's a highly personal sound that requires his hand, his breathing and his mood. Everything else feels like a fake. In 2012, I ...
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