Jazz Articles
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Adam Schroeder & Mark Masters celebrate Clark Terry: CT!
by Pierre Giroux
In jazz, where the past intertwines with the present and the future, few figures were as influential as the legendary trumpeter Clark Terry. During his playing career, he developed a creative, bouncy style with an irrepressible rhythmic verve that was entirely his own. The album CT! with baritone saxophonist Adam Schroeder and arranger Mark Masters serves as a heartfelt homage to this jazz icon, presenting fresh and invigorating arrangements of 13 Clark Terry originals skillfully performed by a 12-piece ensemble. ...
read moreMichael Musillami Trio: Block Party
by Troy Dostert
A relentlessly active and inventive guitarist whose first recordings date back to the '80s, Michael Musillami began to hit his stride in the '90s alongside veterans of the New York downtown scene such as bassist Mario Pavone, drummer Michael Sarin and saxophonist Thomas Chapin. But one of his foremost partnerships took shape in the early 2000s, when he first teamed with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller, themselves long-standing veterans of creative jazz. Twenty years and ten albums later, ...
read moreMike Jones: Are You Sure You Three Guys Know What You're Doing?
by Jack Bowers
Some years ago, after Penn Jillette heard Mike Jones playing in a small club in Las Vegas, he approached the pianist, introduced himself, and said he would like to hire Jones to open his popular magic show, Penn & Teller--on one condition. And what might that condition be, Jones asked, to which Jillette replied, “I'm your bassist." Jones readily agreed, starting a long-running collaboration that has led at last to this superlative album --with Jillette on bass, of course, and ...
read moreMike Jones / Penn Jillette / Jeff Hamilton: Are You Sure You Three Guys Know What You're Doing?
by Pierre Giroux
If the tired old cliché “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" ruled the roost, perhaps the talents of pianist Mike Jones might have been limited to being the music director for the Penn & Teller Las Vegas show of mind-blowing illusions. Fortunately, a tired old cliché is just that. Jones' dynamic talent and creativity could not be “kept under a bushel." He joined forces with the exceptional and versatile drummer Jeff Hamilton and the surprisingly talented bassist Penn Jillette, ...
read moreRevolver Super Deluxe Edition (5CD)
by Doug Collette
The five CDs in The Beatles' Revolver Super Deluxe Edition reaffirm a fundamental verity regarding the group's work. The Liverpudlian quartet was never more unified in its creativity than in writing, recording and producing the sixteen tracks that comprise the box in collaboration with producer George Martin, engineer Geoff Emerick and the additional musicians and technicians who participated. The curators of this set in turn have channeled the remarkably pragmatic and disciplined approach of the Beatles and company. ...
read morePeter Madsen's CIA Trio: 88 Butterfly
by Mike Jurkovic
Veteran pianist & composer Peter Madsen, despite having accompanied or mentored such leading lights and legends as Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Ravi Coltrane, Stan Getz, Roy Hargrove and Benny Golson, seems to prefer a career flying under the proverbial radar. But there is always something to write home about when his new music comes down the pike. 88 Butterfly, his second full outing with his CIA trio of double bassist Herwig Hammerl and drummer Martin Grabher is no exception.
read moreKeith Oxman: This One's for Joey
by Jack Bowers
The “Joey" saluted on Denver-based tenor saxophonist Keith Oxman's latest album is Joey Pearlman, a jazz bassist who died far too soon, at age twenty-four, in Febuary 2021. Joey's “music and personality," Oxman writes, “brightened every day for us at [Denver's] East High School. His presence brought joy to our music room...as he challenged us with his brilliant compositions and performances. Joey's musical influence on his classmates, as well as his one-of-a-kind sense of humor, had an undeniable and positive ...
read morePeter Madsen's CIA Trio: 88 Butterfly
by Dan McClenaghan
Many jazz artists find butterflies inspiring. Pianist Herbie Hancock recorded “Butterfly" for his Thrust album for Columbia Records in 1974. In 1993 guitarist Russell Malone released his Black Butterfly (Columbia Records), the title tune a rendition of a Duke Ellington/Irving Berlin composition; and the Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band offered up the album Chinese Butterfly (Concord Music Group) in 2018. There are many more examples. Those three cited albums didn't immerse themselves in the butterfly; it was ...
read moreJeff Hamilton Trio: Merry & Bright
by Jack Bowers
After thinking for many years about producing an album of holiday songs, drummer Jeff Hamilton finally took the plunge in March 2021, recording with his trio the delightful Merry & Bright whose seasonal perspective is far more contemporary than traditional, with only one of its ten selections ("O Tannenbaum") predating the mid-twentieth century. The mood is for the most part temperate and easygoing, a charming showcase for Hamilton's superlative brush work and deft interplay by all hands. ...
read moreGraham Dechter: Major Influence
by Pierre Giroux
The guitarist Graham Dechter offers his first new album in almost a decade. Major Influence was recorded prior to the pandemic with the dream rhythm section of Dechter's earlier recordings: pianist Tamir Hendelman, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton. In early fall 2021, the band can now begin to contemplate returning to touring. While the unit's previous releases contained mostly titles from the American Songbook and jazz standards, this effort consists of compositions that were ...
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