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Jazz Articles about Tom Rainey
Andrew Rathbun: The Speed Of Time
by Dan McClenaghan
Not one to avoid concepts and ambitious outings, Andrew Rathbun's to-date masterpiece, The Atwood Suites (Origin Records, 2018), explored the poetry of his countrywoman, writer Margaret Atwood. In 2023, he tackles time. Time is a funny thing. Its perceived speed is malleable. It tends toward an increasing velocity as one moves into middle age and beyond. It can crawl at a snail's pace (during a root canal treatment, for example) and it can race ahead with wild abandon--that ...
read moreSatoko Fujii: Hyaku: One Hundred Dreams
by Alberto Bazzurro
Inciso al DiMenna Center di New York nel settembre 2022, questo album è forse il migliore, il più importante e ambizioso, realizzato dalla pianista giapponese in tempi recenti (e sappiamo quanto corposa sia la sua produzione da un po' di anni in qua). Basta, da subito, scorrere i nomi coinvolti nel progetto (in special modo il grande vecchio" Wadada Leo Smith) per rendersene conto. La musica, poi, ci toglie da ogni dubbio o imbarazzo: siamo di fronte a un lavoro ...
read moreIngrid Laubrock: Monochromes
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist & composer Ingrid Laubrock and her partner, drummer Tom Rainey self-released an ongoing series of spontaneous duets, the Stir Crazy Episodes, recorded during the pandemic lockdown. They were most likely a kind of pressure release mechanism for both artists. With Monochromes, Laubrock heads in the opposite direction by commissioning four musicians to pre-record tape pieces based on her notations, both conventional and graphical; these form the foundations for Laubrock and three different collaborations to improvise over. The single 40-minute ...
read moreIngrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place
by Jerome Wilson
Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock always seems to search out new instrumental configurations for her music. This time out, she and her musical and life partner, drummer Tom Rainey, collaborate with a quartet of accomplished string players, guitarist Brandon Seabrook, violinist Mazz Swift, cellist Tomeka Reid, and bassist Michael Formanek. Together they create stimulating music which can be many things. At different times it sounds formal, urgent, placid, and violent. Afterglow" and Anticipation" explore some of the classical possibilities of ...
read moreIngrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place
by Alberto Bazzurro
A tre anni e mezzo dalla sua incisione (settembre 2019), giunge all'ufficialità della pubblicazione questo notevole album della cinquantaduenne sassofonista tedesca Ingrid Laubrock, capace di regalarci una volta di più testimonianza eloquente del suo valore, come tutta una serie di collaborazioni quanto mai prestigiose e la sua stessa produzione discografica, abbondante ed esauriente, ci avevano detto con chiarezza di dettagli. Qui la stessa conformazione del sestetto protagonista del lavoro, con ben quattro strumenti a corde di cui ...
read moreIngrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place
by Troy Dostert
When saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock finds herself in her comfort zone, it is typically in small group formations--often just duos or trios--which allow her unparalleled skills as an improviser to shine most brightly. However, listeners are always in for a special treat when she ventures out into less familiar terrain, especially with larger ensembles. On recordings such as Contemporary Chaos Practices (Intakt, 2018) or Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (Intakt, 2020), Laubrock takes advantage of the opportunity to develop her ambitious compositional ...
read moreSatoko Fujii: Hyaku: One Hundred Dreams
by Dan McClenaghan
Country music artist Merle Haggard (1937 -2016) released 66 studio albums in his day, along with five instrumental recordings and several live and compilation discs. When asked in a late-career interview if his upcoming album was a good one, he answered (paraphrasing). I don't know. I've made so many I don't know if the next one's any good or not." He was probably pulling the interviewer's leg. It is hard to imagine an artist presenting a new work ...
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