Jazz Articles about Kevin Norton

Yimba Rudo: Yimba Rudo

by Jerome Wilson
October 8, 2019

The phrase “Yimba Rudo" means “Sing Love" in Zimbabwe's Shona language. It is also the name of this trio which brings together musicians from three different worlds. Vibraphonist Kevin Norton is a respected figure in the avant jazz sphere who has worked with the likes of Anthony Braxton and Paul Dunmall. Bassist Steve LaSpina is a veteran presence on the mainstream New York jazz scene who has played with everyone from Benny Carter to Carmen McRae. Drummer Jim Pugliese has ...

Barking Hoop

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
September 22, 2007

French filmmaker and writer Guy Debord's art probed how modernization and economic forces caused alienation in everyday life. Music composed in his honor was the impetus for an artist-run, independent record label: drummer-percussionist and composer Kevin Norton's Barking Hoop. It's dedicated to developing original and unique work outside established parameters, which Debord would applaud. A longtime sideman for multi-reedist Anthony Braxton, Norton was invited to compose and perform at the 1998 Tri-Centric Festival in New York. With Debord ...

Instinctual Eye: Born in Brooklyn

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 22, 2006

Il percussionista e compositore Kevin Norton vanta collaborazioni con diversi rappresentanti della cosiddetta musica creativa, da Fred Frith a Mark Dresser da Tomas Ulrich a Joelle Leandre, ma il sodalizio artisticamente più significativo risulta la sua partecipazione ad alcune delle formazioni di Anthony Braxton. E proprio il multistrumentista, compositore e teorico di Chicago, è il principale riferimento nella musica di Norton. Soprattutto per l’approccio libero e, nel medesimo tempo, profondamente strutturato al materiale sonoro, che sfugge così a qualsiasi tentativo ...

Kevin Norton: Quark Bercuse: Solo Percussion Vol. 1

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
September 27, 2005

Solo music is perhaps the most challenging kind of all. With no place to hide, it's just the musician communicating to the listener. Percussion music presents additional challenges for both the performer and audience, since untuned instruments, like drums and cymbals, lack obvious melodic qualities and tuned instruments, like marimba and xylophone, are not inherently harmonic. But percussion instruments have a vast timbral and dynamic range with which a skilled percussionist can elicit implied melodies and harmonies and present complete ...

Kevin Norton: Time-Space Modulator & No Definitive

by Kurt Gottschalk
December 18, 2004

Vanity labels and the digital age have perhaps resulted in an effluvia of recordings that will likely be enjoyed by fans in the single digits at best, but on occasion the DIY ethos in jazz allows documentation of remarkable work by artists who might otherwise be forever relegated to sideman status. Kevin Norton is the rare drummer with a strong sense for composition and more than mere competence as a bandleader and it's fortunate that he's able ...

Kevin Norton's Bauhaus Quartet: Time-Space Modulator

by Mark Corroto
December 13, 2004

I must admit, I didn't consider Kevin Norton's latest entitled Time-Space Modulator to be a reference to L'szl' Moholy-Nagy's sculpture “Light-Space Modulator." Nope. I referenced the drummer's work with, and admiration for Anthony Braxton, and immediately connected this disc with Bugs Bunny's encounters with Marvin the Martian. I can even picture Braxton speaking with Marvin's voice and calling for “the P-53 time-space modulator."

But then I digress.

Norton, like Braxton (and Marvin) are partial to a ...

Kevin Norton: Intuitive Structures

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
March 13, 2004

Drummer-percussionist Kevin Norton is perhaps best known for his collaborations with multi-reedist and composer Anthony Braxton. But Norton is also an accomplished composer and bandleader. Intuitive Structures, his tenth record as a leader, captures Norton in an intimate live setting, with the emphasis on playing and group interaction. Living Language consists of saxophonist Louie Belogenis, cellist Tomas Ulrich, and bassist John Lindberg, frequent associates of the leader who possess both technical proficiency and emotional intensity. A vibraphone-cello duet ...