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Yuhan Su: Liberated Gesture
by Angelo Leonardi
«Quest'album rappresenta la libertà che stavo cercando--dice Yuhan Su--una variante di me più raffinata e un messaggio sul periodo in cui ci troviamo». Giunta al quarto disco in un decennio d'attività professionale a New York, la vibrafonista taiwanese conferma d'essere una strumentista di prim'ordine e soprattutto una compositrice e leader innovativa, in equilibrio tra post-bop e avanguardia. I segni erano evidenti nel suo precedente album per la Sunnyside (City Animals, 2018) inciso con un quintetto differente, dove ...
read moreDan Weiss: Even Odds
by Mike Jurkovic
To say that It Is What It Is"--regarding drummer/composer Dan Weiss's feverish first track on the fervently episodic Even Odds--misses the whole point entirely. It could be anything. And within its spacious yet oddly claustrophobic three-and-a-half minutes, evolutions come and go in real time. And real time is a bitch if you cannot keep up. It is a wild statement but one that needs to be said, especially at the onset of music such as Even Odds. It ...
read moreJon Irabagon's Outright!: Recharge the Blade
by Mark Corroto
As with nearly all of saxophonist Jon Irabagon's music, the matter for debate is whether the listener needs to be as caffeinated as the musician. His brand of performance, going back two decades, has been one of constant motion and a bottomless cup of ideas. We heard this in Irabagon's contribution to the band Mostly Other People Do The Killing, his I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues series, and his collaboration with Joe Fonda in Barry Altschul's 3Dom Factor. ...
read moreYuhan Su: Liberated Gesture
by Hrayr Attarian
A remarkable feature of vibraphonist Yuhan Su's captivating fourth release as a leader, LIberated Gesture, is its cohesiveness and narrative quality. Even though only three tracks are part of a suite, common motifs and logical transitions interconnect all ten. This and the sublime balance between the emotional and the cerebral endows the work with its enchanting impressionism. Pianist Matt Mitchell sets an expectant mood on Naked Swimmer" with his percussive and sparse chords. Mitchell, together with drummer Dan ...
read moreDaniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra: Open Spaces
by Jerome Wilson
The subtitle of this album is Folk Songs Reimagined" and Daniel Hersog uses a very liberal meaning for the term folk song" here. He includes traditional folk songs on this album, in addition to familiar tunes by Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot and his own folk-based compositions. All are given a glistening polish in the sweeping cinematic arrangements which he writes for his orchestra, and are further enhanced by excellent solo work from a number of musicians. Hersog's ...
read moreDaniel Hersog: Open Spaces
by Jack Bowers
Locked down and socially distanced during the pandemic, composer-arranger Daniel Hersog had an interesting idea: rearrange some well-known and well-loved folk songs, most with Canadian roots, for jazz orchestra and throw in a handful of his own original compositions with a folk-tune ambience. The result is Open Spaces: Folk Songs Reimagined, the sophomore album by Hersog's Vancouver-based ensemble. As on his debut recording, Night Devoid of Stars (Cellar Music, 2020), Hersog welcomes a number of talented guest ...
read moreDavid Binney: Barefooted Town
by Josef Woodard
Continuing Saga of the Strong Seeker I remember distinctly during the 2007 Montreal Jazz Festival, sifting through and measuring up the usual blur of stimuli, seeking out the prizes among prizes in the program. In one corner, there was Wayne Shorter, in the finest of his performance I'd ever heardplaying up his suits as composer and soloist by meshing his free-wheeling quartet and the score-heeding Imani Winds. And then, in another corner, as part of the late night haunt of ...
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