Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

ALBUM REVIEW June 1, 2020

Roberto Magris: Suite!

When appraising a new recording by Roberto Magris, Rule No. 1 is always to expect the unexpected. On eighteen previous albums, the Italian-born pianist has produced tributes to Lee Morgan, Elmo Hope and Cannonball Adderley, welcomed guest artists Herb Geller, Sam Reed and Ira Sullivan, and led groups ranging from trio to septet, all for Kansas City's JMood Records. In that spirit, Magris' newest two-disc set, Suite!, isn't a suite at all; that is to say, it cannot be defined ...

ALBUM REVIEW April 30, 2020

Roberto Magris: Suite!

By Edward Blanco

Veteran jazz pianist Roberto Magris expands his collaboration with the Kansas City-based JMood label, recording almost two hours of uncommon traditional jazz and offering a mixture of re-arranged standards and original compositions covering fifteen tracks, nicely presented in a double CD package. The majority of the session was recorded while in Chicago in November of 2018. A socially-conscious individual, Magris has always viewed music as a way to express sorely-needed social awareness and introspective messages that make life worthwhile.

ALBUM REVIEW April 19, 2020

Roberto Magris: Suite!

By Karl Ackermann

Italian pianist/composer Roberto Magris could not have anticipated the urgent need for a positive message when he recorded Suite! in 2018. The newly released double album reflects Magris' belief that a better world is coming and his certainty is conveyed in a sprawling program of poetry, original compositions, and some surprising covers. He has recorded as the leader of several sextets but here features a new line-up dominated by studio musicians. Chicago bassist Eric Hochberg has worked with ...

ALBUM REVIEW April 18, 2020

Roberto Magris: Suite!

By Dan McClenaghan

Italian pianist Roberto Magris began his jazz career in the late 1970s, releasing a handful of excellent albums on Soul Note Records. He picked up steam in his collaboration with Kansas City's JMood Records in 2008 on Kansas City Outbound. As a pianist and a bandleader, Magris seems to have soaked up numerous influences--mid-sixties Blue Note Records, McCoy Tyner, Elmo Hope, Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. His JMood Records catalog boasts eighteen releases, including the disc ...

ALBUM REVIEW January 16, 2020

Roberto Magris Sextet: Sun Stone

By Jerome Wilson

Roberto Magris, the prolific Italian pianist who spends a lot of his time in America, has recorded with several different types of groups in his career. This is his first outing with a new straight--ahead sextet that includes Chicago legend Ira Sullivan on alto and soprano saxophones and flute, and it is a strong one. This particular group is steeped in the jazz traditions of the Fifties and Sixties, echoing McCoy Tyner, Art Blakey and Horace Silver at ...

ALBUM REVIEW November 15, 2019

Roberto Magris Sextet: Sun Stone

By Jack Bowers

Italian-born pianist Roberto Magris likes to change things up. He can be seen and heard leading groups from trio to octet and beyond, and meshing quite comfortably into groups of all shapes and sizes. On Sun Stone, his fifteenth recording for JMood Records, Magris fronts an admirable sextet whose front-line includes the venerable Ira Sullivan on flute, soprano and alto saxophones, and the superb tenor saxophonist Mark Colby, abetted by trumpeter Shareef Clayton, bassist Jamie Ousley and drummer Roldolfo Zuniga. ...

ALBUM REVIEW March 14, 2019

Roberto Magris: World Gardens

By Jerome Wilson

Pianist Roberto Magris is originally from Italy but he has played all over the world, but to a great extent he has chosen Kansas City as his base. He has encountered a lot of different sounds in his travels and that is reflected in the wide variety of the music he creates on this set. Overall Magris works in a variety of formats, such as groups with horns and electric fusion trios, but on this occasion he uses ...