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Jazz, Zen, and Hip-Hop: The 2019 Montreal Jazz Festival
Exploring the grounds of the Montreal Jazz Festival is like going to all you can eat Las Vegas buffet. “Look over there at table four; there's Dixieland. Wait at table six, there's Latin jazz, supposedly the main table as a new head chef, let's go there." You can stuff yourself by going to more than ten concerts during a single 13-hour day at the festival. The best part is that all of the outdoor concerts, over ...
read moreMaureen Choi Quartet at BacchusLIVE
We live in an era where chit chatting now, most annoyingly, rivals actual listening to the music at many concerts. It is with supreme delight then, that I share my enthralling experience of an evening of musical brilliance that was free of any such boorish clutter. You could have heard a pin drop at Bacchus' Kitchen in Pasadena, California during the Maureen Choi Quartet performance. A virtuoso violinist, Choi, and her bandmates treated an attentive and appreciative audience to two ...
read moreCGI Rochester International Jazz Festival 2019
The CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival, held June 21st thru the 29th, was a huge success. The streets of downtown Rochester, New York, are the perfect venue to host nine straight days (and nights) of jazz. The eighteenth annual festival had a little something for everyone, including perfect weather. From high school bands, to rising stars, to NEA Jazz Masters; every level of jazz was heard and seen. The lineup included jazz greats George Benson, Eddie Henderson, Steve Gadd, Harold ...
read more3x3: Piano Trios: July 2019
It must unofficially be the year of the piano trio or something. They just keep coming, and thankfully each new one is still stimulating and surprising. Shalosh Onwards and Upwards ACT Music 2019 The name means “three," simply enough, and Shalosh is all about embodying that ideal of unity as a humble and mutually supportive unit. Less obviously on the surface (though just as importantly), they're all about getting under the hood ...
read moreSatoko Fujii/Ramon Lopez: Confluence
Pianist Satoko Fujii has collected a lot of musical soul mates over her twenty-plus year, eighty-plus album career: pianist Paul Bley, her early mentor; trumpeter (and husband) Natsuki Tamura; electronics wizard/keyboardfisit Alister Spence, to name a few notables. All three have teamed with Fujii for at least one extraordinary duo album apiece, showcasing deep connections and near supernatural simpaticos with Fujii's singular artistic vision. Confluence introduces yet another of Fujii's kindred spirits to her duo recording ouvre: Spanish ...
read moreBert Lams & Fabio Mittino: Movimenti
George Gurdjieff was one fascinating character: traveler, mystic, philosopher, composer and more. He taught that most people's consciousness is limited and there are other realms to be experienced after a spiritual awakening--time-honored ideas, yet provocative stuff for the early 20th century. His most famous collaboration was with Russian composer Thomas de Hartmann, which resulted in a musical travelogue that remains fascinatingly exotic even today. These are complex-yet-accessible pieces full of mystery, always reaching for something a little otherworldly.
read moreRosario Bonaccorso Quartet: A New Home
There is a trend in jazz today to abandon beauty for technical ability. Odd meter and eccentric changes replace sympathetic music making, favoring skills over art. Thank the heavens there are those who have never abandoned beauty. One such musician is bassist Rosario Bonaccorso. His quartet recording A New Home is an exercise in elegance and style, featuring eleven original compositions by the bassist and leader. Pianist Enrico Zanisi returns from Bonaccorso's previous outing A Beautiful Story (Via Veneto Jazz, ...
read moreA Spirale & Chris Cogburn: Autocannibalism
The Italian duo A Spirale, comprising electric guitarist Maurizio Argenziano and saxophonist Mario Gabola, was formed in 2002 when it also included drummer Massimo Spezzaferro; the trio version appeared on the ten-disc compilation Musica Improvvisa (die Schactel, 2010). Since then, Spezzaferro has not recorded with A Spirale, and the duo has collaborated with guest players. Autocannibilism is their first release since 2013, and finds them in the company of guest American percussionist Chris Cogburn, who has recorded with such esteemed ...
read moreThe Chicago Sound (1956 - 1961)
Because it acted as a safe harbor for the New Orleans diaspora of the teens and twenties, Chicago played a key role in early jazz. By the 1950s, much of jazz was understood in the dialog between cool jazz and hard bop, aka West Coast and East Coast, with Los Angeles and New York playing inordinately important roles. But the Chicago scene was as vital as ever. In this hour, we will return to the “City with Broad Shoulders" and ...
read moreNerija: Blume
Nérija is a collective comprising seven of the brightest stars on London's alternative jazz scene--alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi and tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia, trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey, trombonist Rosie Turton, guitarist Shirley Tetteh, bassist Rio Kai and drummer Lizy Exell. All are bandleaders in their own right. You would expect such a line-up to deliver the goods and it does. Among Blume's charms is a great vibe. A defining feature of the new London scene is its collegiate nature. ...
read moreSimon Lasky Group: About The Moment
Which moment could this title be referring to? There's no shortage of beautifully striking ones scattered throughout the Simon Lasky Group's second outing: dynamic lifts and swells, chord changes that step through sophisticated sequences as smoothly as descending stairs, little heads or melody lines that pack a special hit because they're placed at just the right spot in the larger context of the piece. The whole album is really an extended moment of happy togetherness, presented as a mosaic of ...
read moreStåhls trio: Källtorp Sessions, Volume One
In a more perfect world, jazz would be found on jukeboxes. Better still, how about adventurist jazz on jukeboxes? Mattias Ståhl's trio brings this thought to mind. His Källtorp Sessions, Volume One is comprised of nine tracks averaging 3¾ minutes, perfect for those 45 rpm singles. The Stähls Trio of Mattias Ståhl (vibraphone), Joe Williamson (bass), and Christopher Cantillo (drums), follow up on their premier outing Jag Skulle Bara Gå Ut (Moserobie Music, 2013). These escapades by a ...
read moreAlbum Showcase
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One Night At Chris’ by Dave Wilson
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Lined With A Groove by Pete Coco
