Jazz Articles about Theo Bleckmann

Jamie Baum Septet+: What Times Are These

by Katchie Cartwright
April 5, 2024

Reading Marge Piercy's poem “To Be of Use" (track two onWhat Times Are These), Jamie Baum could be speaking of herself, one of those “who jump into work head first without dallying in the shadows, who swim off with sure strokes," knowing that “the thing worth doing has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident." What Times Are These is a satisfying form of this sort. Confined to her New York apartment during the Covid-19 lockdown, Baum responded ...

Theo Bleckmann & The Westerlies: This Land

by Jerome Wilson
September 23, 2021

Given the state of the nation in 2021, it is no wonder that protest music has been springing up in all genres. This particular effort by vocalist Theo Bleckmann and the brass quartet the Westerlies mixes protest songs and hymns of the past with original compositions, to comment on various present-day problems. Issues touched on in these songs include war, bigotry, gun violence and economic inequality. Bleckmann's voice rings out as a powerful beacon supported by intricate quartet ...

Seminari Siena Jazz 2021, Part 2-2

by Luciano Rossetti
August 12, 2021

John Hollenbeck: Songs You Like a Lot

by Angelo Leonardi
July 19, 2021

Con questo disco John Hollenbeck conclude la trilogia iniziata otto anni fa sulla reinterpretazione di famosi brani della popular music (Songs I Like A Lot, Sunnyside 2013) e proseguita due anni dopo con Songs We Like a Lot per la stessa etichetta. Nel primo album la scelta dei temi era strettamente personale, nel secondo fu condivisa con alcuni partner (i cantanti Theo Bleckmann e Kate McGarry) ed ora nasce dalla selezione di proposte giunte all'arrangiatore dal suo ...

Ricardo Pinheiro: Caruma

by Victor L. Schermer
April 23, 2021

Ricardo Pinheiro is a guitarist from Lisbon, Portugal who has made his mark on jazz in Europe and the U.S. His sensitive, imaginative, and intimate way of playing is evident on albums such as Pinheiro, Ineke. & Cavalli: Triplicity (Daybreak/Challenge, 2018) and Pinheiro/ Ineke/ Cavalli: Turn Out The Stars (Challenge, 2021) , the former being a musical re-interpretation of bebop standards and the latter a guitar rendition of the music of pianist Bill Evans. There is a certain boldness and ...

Theo Bleckmann & The Westerlies: This Land

by John Chacona
February 20, 2021

Could This Land, from Theo Bleckmann & The Westerlies be the first great musical declaration of the Biden Era? If so, it's probably an accident. When they tracked This Land in August 2019, Bleckmann and the brass quartet entered the studio with a program of protest songs. But in degree and kind, they are worlds away from the howling fervor of Moor Mother or the rousing call to the barricades of Gordon Grdina's Resist (Irabbagast Records, 2020), to ...

Ricardo Pinheiro with Theo Bleckmann and Mônica Salmaso: Caruma

by Karl Ackermann
January 30, 2021

Ricardo Pinheiro is a Portuguese guitarist, composer and educator. He has a dozen previous recordings to his credit and leader or co-leader status on the majority of those projects. His music has covered ambient, electronic, bop, jazz standards, and jazz/poetry hybrids. Pinheiro, a Berklee alumnus, has recorded and played with Dave Liebman, Peter Erskine, Chris Cheek, Jon Irabagon and Tim Hagans, among others. Caruma is a new direction for Pinheiro. Pinheiro is joined by two vocalists, Theo Bleckmann ...