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Articles | Featured | Future
Jay Thomas with the Oliver Groenewald Newnet: I Always Knew
Jay Thomas has lived the jazz life. He has endured, overcome, and continued to artistically thrive through all the ruminations of a path chosen by few. While much of his life may form a parallel story to those of many, Thomas' version, his personal adjunct to its litany, is a story of artistic triumph that opened doors seldom walked through. It is a musical legacy in Seattle, unmatched in the colorful history of jazz in his hometown, documented by a ...
read moreJacob Duncan: It's Alright To Dream featuring JD Allen
In many instances, saxophone summits are ballsy blowouts steeped in performing jazz standards, especially when the hornists are used to leading their own bands, and they just want to get down to business in the studio. But such is not the case here, thanks to superb Louisville, KY-based saxophonist Jacob Duncan's (Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin) original compositions that add a harmonious cohesion to this session. The quintet features NY-based poll-winning tenor sax artisan JD Allen, who has been releasing widely ...
read moreKelly Green: Volume One
If we were talking baseball, pianist, vocalist, and composer Kelly Green would be highly touted as a three tool player. And she deserves to be. From every angle she hears breaks and stops, harmonic and melodic whoops, swoops and vocal dips and dives that the rest of us maybe don't until the artist makes them as present and immediate as breathing. Stepping away from the larger sound that powered 2017's critically accepted, self produced debut, for the bracingly ...
read moreJames Austin, Jr: Songs in the Key of Wonder
Hailing from the windy city of Chicago, James Austin, Jr. has established himself as an accomplished pianist and bandleader. He honed his craft under the tutelage of a number of legendary musicians, including extensive study with renowned jazz educator Barry Harris, receiving numerous accolades and awards along the way, including the honor of being selected as a semi-finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano competition. Each year he has curated and led the New Jersey Performing Arts Center ...
read moreQuinsin Nachoff’s Flux & Hot Heros
A pair of albums from Northern European artists demonstrate a similar approach in this episode--improvising upon the folk melodies of their countries--Poland's Irek Wojtczak and his Folk Five and Finland's Hot Heros. For Wojtczak, he's just happy to see his recording available: the radio station that was recording the live concert lost the tapes, but fortunately, like a lot of other musicians, he recorded the shows himself. Hot Heros is a trio with connections to another prominent Finnish band: Black ...
read moreSal La Rocca: SHIFTED
The saxophone lines snake out of the speakers, rustling the airwaves like a breeze through firs or singing with all the lyricism of the finest vocalist. The double bass's hardwood lays a strong foundation. The electricity of the Wurlitzer piano growls atop that age-old sound, like a lightning storm rolling over treetops. Sal La Rocca's Shifted melds the gentleness of a forest with all the freedom of its animals. The sounds can roam uninhibited and wild. But they all play ...
read moreUp In Harlem - Stride
In the last hour, we listened to several of the bands associated with New York, with an emphasis on the new large ensemble form, the jazz orchestra. In this hour we'll stick with New York, but focus in on the piano music of Harlem--"Stride." We are joined in this hour by Art Wheeler, pianist, producer, composer and educator. In his History of Jazz, Ted Gioia writes, “It is not going too far to suggest that piano was to ...
read moreTRPTK: Breaking Genre Walls
TRPTK, an independent new music label based in the Netherlands, produces hi-res recordings with astonishingly realistic sound quality. TRPTK's catalogue of jazz and new music erases the boundaries of musical genres, and pursues a commonality of purpose that overrides differences in cultural and national backgrounds. Æon Trio: Elegy Elegy, performed by the jazz ensemble Æon Trio of Japanese pianist-composer Atzko Kohashi, Dutch bassist Frans van der Hoeven and Russian-born cellist Maya Fridman, draws on the diverse streams of ...
read moreSusanna Risberg: Vilddjur
If the proverbial ten thousand hours of practise does lead to mastery of one's craft, then it's a safe bet that twenty-six-year-old Swedish guitarist Susanna Risberg has long since passed that milestone since taking up the guitar aged ten. Nor is it just her virtuosity that compels on Vilddjur, her third album as leader, but her emotional shading and the compositional sophistication at play too. These nine refined yet visceral tunes also suggest that Risberg's musical vision is broader than ...
read moreFriedrich Kunzmann's 2018 Top 5: A fine year for the ECM catalogue
When looking back at the year one won't find more peace or joy than on the musical side of things. For in this realm there are nor real losers. Here, disappointment is relative and success is all over the place because everyone is trying to be their best possible selves, constantly on a path of self-improvement and reflection. A collective inwardness mirrors the individual looking outward; musicians listening to one another, understanding one another and building upon the constant exchange ...
read moreAlbum Showcase
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Homeward by Mike Thornton
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Story of the Day
I was first exposed to live jazz by attending jam sessions held by South County Jazz Club at Snook Haven. I'd listed to jazz albums over the years, but this was my first “live” event.
By Sandra Kangas
Member since: 2018
