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Jazz Articles about Geof Bradfield

Album Review

Ethan Philion: Meditations On Mingus

Read "Meditations On Mingus" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Questa rilettura del songbook mingusiano, conferma la potenza evocativa e l'attualità di quelle composizioni. La scelta da Ethan Philion ha privilegiato brani che testimoniamo l'impegno civile e politico del contrabbassista di Nogales e sono particolarmente d'attualità oggi. Il disco di apre con un brano dal titolo emblematico, “Once Upon A Time There Was A Holding Corporation Called Old America," che Charles Mingus non registrò mai in studio ma è presente nella registrazione live (a lungo introvabile) di At ...

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Album Review

Geof Bradfield Quintet: Quaver

Read "Quaver" reviewed by Jack Bowers


While tenor saxophonist Geof Bradfield's versatile Chicago-based quintet does not play “free jazz" on Quaver-- customary rhythmic and harmonic precepts underline every number--the music is explicitly adventurous and forward-looking, as Bradfield and his mates seize every chance to take flight within prescribed boundaries. All the compositions are Bradfield's, and they range from powerful to placid, none of which seems to faze any members of the group, three of whom --Bradfield, bassist Clark Sommers, drummer Dana Hall--have been ...

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Album Review

Scott Burns / John Wojciechowski / Geof Bradfield: Tenor Time

Read "Tenor Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Tenor Time unveils the talents of a trio of Chicago-area tenor saxophonists, each of whom--presumably—solos on each of the album's eight numbers. The qualifier is necessary because the solo order is not given and, skillful as they are, the tenors sound much like triplets at the same workbench. That is to say that in terms of tone, technique and improvisation, they more closely resemble Tweedledee and Tweedledum than, say, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Hank Mobley. If ...

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Album Review

Eric Jacobson: Discover

Read "Discover" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


With Discover, jny: Milwaukee-based trumpeter and jazz educator Eric Jacobson and team take us on an aural time trip back to the days when album covers were iconically black and white or monochrome and the contents within were drenched in blue-hued Hard Bop. This is a fine effort with that precise presentation. “New Combinations," which launches the date, is anything but new and sets the trajectory. One of four Jacobson originals, it is a straight-head burner directly ...

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Album Review

Eric Jacobson: Discover

Read "Discover" reviewed by Jack Bowers


If trumpeter Eric Jacobson's name doesn't ring a bell, it could be because he is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, not in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles or any other jazz mecca. What's more, Jacobson has not recorded often; Discover is only his second date as leader or co-leader. Hindrances aside, Jacobson's is a name with which one should become familiar, as he is an excellent trumpeter and composer, and Discover is splendid from start to finish. ...

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Album Review

Darren Johnston: Life in Time

Read "Life in Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Brooklyn-based trumpeter Darren Johnston traveled to Chicago in May 2021 to record Life in Time with three of his favorite musicians: saxophonist Geof Bradfield, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall who form their own working trio in the Windy City. The generally charming studio date encompasses ten original compositions, six by Johnston, four by Bradfield. Technically and musically, the foursome is splendid. What is missing—and it takes a tune or two to sink in—is the welcome ...

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Album Review

Geof Bradfield, Ben Goldberg, Dana Hall Trio: General Semantics

Read "General Semantics" reviewed by Troy Dostert


A fortuitous meeting between veteran clarinetist Ben Goldberg and two up-and-coming stalwarts of the Chicago creative jazz scene, saxophonist Geof Bradfield and drummer Dana Hall, General Semantics is a tribute to the power of spontaneous interaction among like-minded musicians. Although Bradfield and Hall have worked together extensively since Bradfield's quintet album Our Roots (Origin Records, 2015), neither had performed with Goldberg. But when the three met at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2017 and discovered their sympathetic, wide-ranging musical ...


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