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Free Jazz In Japan: A Personal History
Free Jazz In Japan: A Personal History Soejima Teruto 367 Pages ISBN: 978-4-9908636-5-4 Public Bath Press 2019 An absolute legend in Japanese free-jazz circles, Soejima Teruto wrote about, lectured on and promoted the music he loved for almost sixty years. This personal account of the birth and development of free jazz in Japan was originally published in Japanese in 2002, and thanks to Public Path Press, now makes an overdue appearance in English, ...
read moreTwo Duos Go Brazilian
The male-female duos on these two recordings delve deeply into Brazilian music, but do so in very different ways. Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini Setting Rays Of Summer Self Produced 2019 This is a duo recording in the true sense because the only sounds on this disc come from the trombone and voice of Natalie Cressman and the guitar and voice of Ian Faquini. The resulting blend carries a powerful intimacy in ...
read moreLisipi: Lisipi
The group is called Trio Lisipi; the album is titled an (almost) eponymous Lisipi. The eye-catching album cover features a stylish and attractive young woman sitting at a piano wearing a pair of stiletto heels, bringing Brazil's Eliane Elias to mind. But the woman in the heels is Liliya Akhmetzyanova, a pianist with a Russian conservatory background who has taken up the art of jazz. Trio Lisipi makes its home in Rome, Italy, making jazz that is a ...
read moreJoe Henderson on Milestone
This week we feature a trio of Joe Henderson cuts from the late '60s-early '70s, showing his transition from the mainstream to the electric, plus another teaser from the Rubberband album by Miles Davis and a mixed bag of new and old releases. Playlist Miles Davis “Paradise (feat. Medina Johnson)" from Rubberband (Warner Brothers) 00:00 Joe Henderson “Black Narcissus" from Power to the People (Milestone) 07:00 Roger Rota, Matthias Bauer & Maria Lucchese “Incontro 1 to 4" ...
read moreNew York Voices: Reminiscing In Tempo
What the quartet New York Voices achieves with their performance of Dave Brubeck's “Blue Rondo Á La Turk" disguised as “Round, Round, Round" by lyricist Lauren Kinhan is nothing short of a schizophrenic jazz “Carmina Burana." Lithe, muscular, and smart, the performance is dense and thought-provoking, deftly navigating between its disparate 9/8 and 4/4 sections. The 9/8 sections are presented in almost astringent counterpoint, the vocals cast precisely, almost as in a cantata or oratorio. When the time ...
read moreWhat's the Concept?
Can jazz have “concept albums?" Probably not, but some records do work harder at sustaining a mood--or a sense of narrative--than others. The boys look at five test cases--one brand new, two from that prime year 1969, and two from the transition from the eighties to the nineties. Madge gets a look in during pop matters, along with a discussion of a live show by face-maker and drummer Brian Blade. Playlist Discussion of The Session's album Collusion ...
read moreFrom Wolves To Whales: Strandwal
Please excuse the sudden onset of déjà vu as the sophomore release by the quartet From Wolves To Whales spins out two discs of music from a 2017 live recording from The Netherlands, made during a European tour. It's just that the music evokes the images of Ornette Coleman's early-60's quartet. Images, and not necessarily the sound of Coleman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell. It isn't déjà vu and this isn't last century, but encountering trumpeter Nate Wooley, ...
read moreNicola Conte: Other Directions
Since debuting with the quintessential acid-jazz suite Jet Sounds on the Milan-based label Schema in 2000, the composer, arranger, producer and guitarist Nicola Conte has released another ten exquisitely beautiful albums exploring acid jazz, spiritual jazz, soul jazz and bossa nova, often all on the same disc. Conte also produces other artists and has curated rare-groove bossa nova compilations for Far Out and modal-jazz compilations for Blue Note and MPS. Everything he does is erudite and lustrous and certain to ...
read moreBack to Brazil: Part Three
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 A singer who needs no introduction, Eliane Elias sculpts a predictably sensual soundscape on Love Stories (Concord). The nine-track project features a string orchestra and lush arrangements by Rob Mathes, unobtrusive rhythm section chores by a cadre of Brazilian percussionists, and the steady hand of bassist Marc Johnson. The slinky French film opening track, “A Man and a Woman," establishes a mood of 1960s-era relaxed romanticism that prevails throughout most ...
read moreTake Five With Mike Lorenz
Meet Mike Lorenz: Mike Lorenz, guitarist/ composer/ educator, hails from Bethlehem, PA where he is a member of the music faculty at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts. For over a decade, Mike has kept a busy schedule as a freelancing performer, leading his trio/quartet in performances up-and-down the Northeast Corridor. He holds a steady residency at Tired Hands Brewing Company in Ardmore, PA, one of the top 50 breweries in the world, playing every Thursday night ...
read moreAlex LoRe And Weirdear: Karol
To simply read about it, Karol—saxophonist Alex Lore's third album in total and first on the Challenge imprint—might seem weighted by its conceptual underpinning. Aiming to integrate “elements from Eurocentric and Black American music traditions," LoRe takes most of his inspirational cues from classical composers. Said ideal, for many, would simply lead to either academic exercise or quaint “swinging the classics" scenarios. LoRe doesn't succumb to either fate. Instead, he operates by his own rules and runes, using the seed ...
read moreSan Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2019
Hot fun in the summertime is what the 30th San Jose Jazz Summer Fest was all about. With stages titled Swing, Blues / Big Easy, Salsa, Jazz Beyond and Gospel, you get a sense of what sounds were in the air. The festival was held August 9th through the 11th in beautiful downtown San Jose, California. From high school bands to rising stars like Aneesa Strings and Amy D., mix in jazz talents Dianne Reeves, Gregory Porter, Sons Of Kemet, ...
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