Jazz Articles about Sam Bardfeld

Sam Bardfeld: The Great Enthusiasm

by Stefano Merighi
January 19, 2018

Sam Bardfeld scrive acute note di copertina ricordando in breve la formazione culturale di un giovane nella New York degli anni settanta, dopo le dimissioni di Nixon. Una città depravata, decadente, eppure sfolgorante nella sua iperbolica creatività. La musica caraibica accanto alle prime follie di Zorn; la ruvidezza del CBGB a pochi passi dai recital di Ravi Shankar. Una cornice stimolante a dir poco, per un musicista che in effetti ha fatto tesoro di tale varietà stilistica, arrivando da adulto ...

Sam Bardfeld: Periodic Trespasses

by Robert R. Calder
March 24, 2006

Vibes, bass and drums make an interestingly different rhythm section, one that Bobby Hutcherson long ago used to help jazz musicians reach new places without exiling them from their origins. One musician the master vibraphonist helped was Eric Dolphy, who is mentioned in this set's notes. Quite right, there is some Dolphy in Sam Bardfeld, who plays violin very well, on the lyrical side.

On “There Could Have Been More of It," a nice track, Sean Conly's bass pins things ...

Sam Bardfeld: Periodic Trespasses (The Saul Cycle)

by John Kelman
March 1, 2006

Ask most artists and they'll tell you their albums tell a story. The idea of musical narrative is nothing new--listen to any ECM disc, where emotional arcs often transcend any collection of discrete pieces. Rare, however, are the recordings where there's an all-encompassing theme. Rarer still are those that tell a specific and self-contained story. Percussionist Brad Dutz's Nine Gardeners Named Ned (pfMentum, 2005) was one such record; New York violinist Sam Bardfeld tells the story of the imperfect but ...

Sam Bardfeld: Periodic Trespasses (The Saul Cycle)

by Andrey Henkin
February 21, 2006

With his second release as a leader (and first for Fresh Sound), violinist Sam Bardfeld presents an album full of modern Jewish intellectual reflection, as practiced by such diverse artists as Saul Bellow and Woody Allen, but couched in terms owing more of a debt to Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage. But given those two foundations, this album is neither radical Jewish culture a la Tzadik nor progressive rock. It is instead another fine entry into the seemingly ...

Sam Bardfeld: Periodic Trespasses

by Dan McClenaghan
February 9, 2006

The cover certainly does grab at your attention. It's hard to say what that thing is. A War of the Worlds creature gone goofy? It does give you a clue that New York-based violinist Sam Bardfeld doesn't take himself too seriously. Another clue in this direction is the spoken word intervals--"The Saul Cycle"-- inserted throughout and incorporated into Periodic Trespasses.Working with the concept of “all music tells stories," Bardfeld spins a whimsical tale about a guy who doesn't ...

Sam Bardfeld's Cabal Fatale: Taxidermy

by Glenn Astarita
March 1, 2000

Jazz violinist Sam Bardfeld exhibits a good deal of exuberance, along with proficient chops on his new release for the “CIMP” label, titled – Sam Bardfeld’s Cabal Fatale Taxidermy. Here, the young violinist displays a wide-ranging repertoire as these pieces either skirt the fringes of pure unadulterated free-improv with lots of expressive soloing or they are liable to swing at an often feverish pace. Ex-Prime Time guitarist Ken Wessel provides tonal color, contrast and serves as a near perfect foil ...