Jazz Articles about Allen Farnham

Jae Sinnett's Zero to 60 Quartet: Commitment

by Jack Bowers
May 23, 2023

Commitment, drummer Jae Sinnett's nineteenth album as leader, is a generally admirable session wherein his Zero to 60 Quartet is in fact a Quintet on most numbers thanks to the inclusion of renowned trumpeter Randy Brecker who shares the front line with veteran saxophonist Steve Wilson. The quintet comes out smokin' on Sinnett's “Takin' It There" and pianist Allen Farnham's “Wait for Me," after which Sinnett chooses to slow the tempo and lower the heat, not raising ...

Eric Goletz: A New Light

by Richard J Salvucci
January 27, 2022

Eric Goletz is a virtuoso trombonist who also writes and arranges. On first hearing, his core band may put some in mind of Chase, Bill Chase's high-flying group that featured both vocals and technically demanding trumpet. Goletz has something similar going on. The music opens with “Prelude: Before the Light" and “A New Light," with a stinging solo by guitarist Henry Heinitsch. Goletz, it may be observed, is the logical outcome of jazz-rock and funk meets brass ...

Eric Goletz: A New Light

by Jack Bowers
December 27, 2021

Trombonist Eric Goletz, an in-demand studio musician and sideman in New York City for three decades, released his first album as leader of his own ensemble in March 2021, and quickly followed with the second, A New Light, wherein his core octet is bolstered by three trumpets, half a dozen horns and a five-member string section. Among his more well-known teammates are trumpeter Randy Brecker, pianist Jim Ridl, keyboardist Allen Farnham and drummer Steve Johns. Goletz' musical ...

John Fedchock NY Sextet: Into The Shadows

by Jack Bowers
July 29, 2020

If a sextet--or a group of any size--is to be measured by the sum of its parts, trombonist John Fedchock's NY Sextet succeeds with flying colors, as it embodies half a dozen of the finest jazz musicians the New York City area has to offer. As we know, however, an inclusive appraisal rests on far more than that, else the musicians could simply set their instruments onstage and await the applause. Yes, musical talent surely provides an ...

John Fedchock NY Sextet: Into The Shadows

by Dan Bilawsky
July 19, 2020

Trombonist John Fedchock's fluid slide work, celebrated composing chops and arranger's ingenuity have been put to good use in settings both large and very small in recent years, with a big band set and two live quartet records dropping between 2015 and the present. But rather than choose one of those ensemble formats over the other this time around, he looks to a middle ground with his NY Sextet. Painting with a three-horn frontline and rhythm section, ...

Allen Farnham and the Rias Big Band: Allen Farnham Meets the Rias Big Band

by Robert Spencer
February 1, 1998

RIAS: Radio In America Sector. This German band was formed right after World War II and is now, according to pianist / arranger Allen Farnham, “one of the top contemporary studio / broadcast big bands in Europe."

No doubt that is true. These fellows are mostly relegated to the background for solos, as this disc is full of guest stars: Hendrik Meurkens on harmonica, Chris Potter on tenor, Chris Berger on bass, and Tim Horner on drums. However, trombonist / ...

Allen Farnham: Meets The RIAS Big Band

by Jim Santella
February 1, 1998

Pianist Allen Farnham leads a quintet of Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Hendrik Meurkens on harmonica, Chris Berger on acoustic bass and Tim Horner on drums for “Samba de Sorvete" and “Lost in Zurich." The other tracks employ the quintet members as soloists with the RIAS Big Band from Berlin; the acronym stands for Radio In America Sector. This band was organized shortly after World War II and is now led by trombonist Jiggs Whigham. Farnham's talent as an arranger ...