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A focus on Charles Tolliver

by Bob Osborne
Connect is the first release from trumpeter Charles Tolliver in over a decade. The new album finds him in fine form and good company. With a recording career which began in the mid-1960s, and an impressive, albeit relatively small, back catalogue he is possibly one of the great unsung trumpeters in jazz. The show includes music from the new album and a selection of some of the highlights of his career. Playlist Charles Tolliver Blue Soul" from Connect ...
read moreCharles Tolliver: Blowing Down The Walls Of Trump’s Jericho

by Chris May
Charles Tolliver has played with practically every major African American jazz stylist of his generation, and composed for some of them, too. In addition, he is the co-founder of Strata-East, the most influential label at the intersection of hard bop and spiritual jazz during the 1970s. Tolliver's long and distinguished career continues to flourish, with a new album, Connect, recorded in London in November 2019, set for release on the Gearbox label at the end of July 2020.
read moreCharles Tolliver: Connect

by Chris May
Put out more flags. Connect, the first release from trumpeter Charles Tolliver in over a decade, is a monster. From the Saturday-night goodtime opener Blue Soul" through to the intense, Spanish tinged, serpentine closer Suspicion," the album finds Tolliver still at the top of his game in a recording career which began in the mid 1960s. He fronts a US quintet which brings with it the grit and groove of a mid-1960s Blue Note hard-bop band while sounding totally 2020. ...
read moreCharlie Parker Festival 2018

by Rudolph Lu
Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park's Summer Stage was the site of two separate concerts that were part of New York City's Charlie Parker Festival 2018. This 26th edition truly celebrated the diversity and styles of jazz. August 24th opened with noted vocalist Brianna Thomas performing jazz standards with her talented swinging band. Charles Tolliver led a quintet of all stars to perform music from his groundbreaking 1968 album Paper Man. The quintet featured Gary Bartz, Jason Moran, Jack DeJohnette ...
read moreThe Charles Tolliver Big Band Live at The Iridium Jazz Club

by Dave Kaufman
The Charles Tolliver Big BandThe Iridium Jazz ClubNew York, NYOctober 17, 2009Charles Tolliver leads a modernist 16 piece big band that pushes the envelope of contemporary orchestral jazz sounds. The Big Band played a four night stand at the Iridium Jazz Club and I was fortunate to catch the second set on Saturday night. The Iridium is situated in Midtown Manhattan, just a few blocks away from Time Square, the tourist corner of the world. ...
read moreCharles Tolliver Big Band: Emperor March: Live at the Blue Note

by Troy Collins
With Love (Blue Note, 2007) chronicled the return of the Charles Tolliver Big Band, one of the most progressive big bands of the Post-War years. Inspired in part by the vibrant creative energy of the burgeoning Loft Scene, trumpeter Tolliver and pianist Stanley Cowell's cooperatively led big band was immortalized by two landmark records, Music Inc. & Big Band (Strata-East, 1970) and Impact (Strata-East, 1975). After a quartet reunion gig with Cowell in 2002, Tolliver was encouraged by fellow trumpeter ...
read moreCharles Tolliver: Monk at Town Hall

by AAJ Staff
By Charles TolliverThelonious Monk was and is a central and seminal figure, along with Bird and Diz, et. al., responsible for the creation and growth of the jazz idiom. His patented and innovative stride-intervallic improvisatorial style was inextricably tied to his harmonic genius as a composer. In fact, nearly all of these original innovators possessed this quality. At the dawn of the creation of modern jazz in the early '40s, Monk had already worked out how to utilize ...
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