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Jazz Articles about Michael Feinberg
Criss Cross Records: The Healing Power Of Authenticity
by Chris May
When the founder of the Netherlands-based Criss Cross Jazz label, Gerry Teekens, passed away in 2019, there was an odds-on chance that Criss Cross would leave town with him. That is often the fate, in such circumstances, of organisations led by a singular visionary and defined by their personal aesthetic. The loss of the label would have been sorely felt, for between 1981 and 2019, the label released over 400 albums, every one of them uncompromising and most of them ...
read moreMichael Feinberg: Hard Times
by Troy Dostert
Although the Covid pandemic has been devastating to the artistic community, and certainly jazz musicians are no exception, albums like Michael Feinberg's Hard Times point to the possibility of hopeful resilience. With a top-shelf bunch of colleagues and smart compositions with rhythmically crafty arrangements, the bassist's eighth release is a winner, with a plucky spirit and satisfying grooves in abundance. Feinberg pulled this band together in October 2020, and with folks like drummer Jeff “Tain" Watts and pianist ...
read moreMichael Feinberg: From Where We Came
by Jim Worsley
At the dinner table or in the studio, there are many subtle methods to interject a staunch conversation starter. Or you can always burst into the room with your hair on fire. Veteran soprano saxophonist Dave Liebman, he of many rich and complex lines past, here opted for the latter approach. After bassist and leader Michael Feinberg opened the record with a mood leveling bass intro, Liebman grabbed the attention of his younger generation bandmates in the Feinberg composition Louisville," ...
read moreMichael Feinberg: Whatever Possessed Me
by Don Phipps
Tribute bands are glowingly appreciated by fans of great rock acts; perhaps it's time jazz fans got with it! Michael Feinberg's Whatever Possessed Me is a dedication to the works and sound of John Coltrane and his classic quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. The performances on this album are so good, one can imagine Coltrane's ghost hovering overhead and nodding approvingly. Feinberg has chosen some prime selections from the bop lexicon to infuse with ...
read moreMichael Feinberg's Humblebrag: Live at 800 East
by Angelo Leonardi
Nato ad Atlanta ma stabilitosi a New York nel 2009, il bassista e compositore Michael Feinberg è uno dei migliori jazzmen emergenti del decennio. Poco più che 25enne ha già inciso alcuni dischi a suo nome, tra cui spicca l'Elvin Jones Project, registrato nel 2012 per la Sunnyside con la presenza di nomi illustri quali Billy Hart, Tim Hagans e George Garzone. In quest'album torna a dirigere un focoso quintetto composto da altri notevoli emergenti, come il trombettista Billy Buss, ...
read moreMichael Feinberg's Humblebrag: Live at 800 East
by Dave Wayne
Blending modern jazz with any aspect of funk or R&B is a risky proposition for a young jazz musician. No matter how personal one's concept may be, or how artfully executed, a segment of the jazz- listening population is going to yell sellout!" at the first electric bass slap. Though he doesn't do slap bass, Michael Feinberg is unapologetically drawn to the funky, danceable aspects of jazz. He does so without really making any obvious pop or R&B overtures. Live ...
read moreMichael Feinberg: The Elvin Jones Project
by Dave Wayne
Electronic boops and beeps are the first thing you hear on bassist Michael Feinberg's The Elvin Jones Project. This could either be a good sign or a bad one. Fortunately it's the former, and it acts as an effective reminder that drummer Elvin Jones was a pioneering and exploratory musician whose legacy extends well beyond his years with the legendary John Coltrane Quartet. If he had, say, quit drumming after leaving Coltrane's band, Jones would still be recognized as a ...
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