Jazz Articles
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Alan Broadbent And NDR Bigband: America The Beautiful
by Edward Blanco
Being a part of the big band sound was an experience pianist Alan Broadbent embraced, endured and eventually, wanted to step away from. Orchestra music--comprised of boisterous reeds and brass sections--were far too loud and too big drowning out the finesse sounds of the acoustic piano. When Broadbent left the Woody Herman Big Band in 1972, he said good bye to the ensemble sound, so he thought. After receiving a commission for a radio program with the renowned NDR Big ...
read moreAlan Broadbent And NDR Bigband: America The Beautiful
by Dan Bilawsky
In the brief liner essay that accompanies America The Beautiful, pianist Alan Broadbent notes that he has “an aversion to being clever," but the rest of the music world never received that memo. Everybody from Irene Kral to Diana Krall and Charlie Haden to Charlie Rich has benefited from his brilliance with a pen and/or a piano. Now Broadbent gets a chance to live within his own well-written constructs. America The Beautiful finds Broadbent in the company ...
read moreAyako Shirasaki: Some Other Time
by Dan Bilawsky
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but the creator also has a hell of a lot to do with it when it comes to the arts. Every musical performance leaves certain items open for debate for and from those on the receiving end, but some things remain irrefutable because of those on the giving side. In the case of pianist Ayako Shirasaki, the undeniable truth(s) surround her dexterous handiwork on the 88s, melodic clarity, and arranging ingenuity, ...
read moreAyako Shirasaki: Some Other Time
by Jeff Winbush
There is a certain sublime pleasure in the simplicity of the trio playing piano, bass and drums. The Ayako Shirasaki trio's approach is straightforward and straight ahead jazz at it's best. Blending both traditional and original compositions, Shirasaki is a nimble and facile pianist who knows how to swing like Bud Powell, one of her musical inspirations as well as bop with the best of 'em.Where you listen is as important as what you listen to, and Some ...
read moreHammer Klavier Trio: Rocket In The Pocket
by Dan Bilawsky
Power piano trios willing to plug-in are not the norm in jazz, but Hamburg's Hammer Klavier Trio, thankfully, never received that message. The music that they present completely erases the dividing lines between traditional piano trios, hard hitting threesomes like The Bad Plus, and genre-blending Euro-stars like the late Esbjörn Svensson Trio. This band has all of that in their aural make-up, but they don't fit neatly into any of those categories. Rocket In The Pocket contains ...
read moreAyako Shirasaki: Falling Leaves - Live In Hamburg
by Dan Bilawsky
Energy is one of the most important and elusive elements in jazz. Some people foolishly equate energy with speed or skill, but the two aren't necessarily linked. Bill Evans didn't sprint around the keyboard, but his music created a cocoon of energy that enveloped an audience in a way that few pianists could ever emulate. Energy comes from the way an artist connects to a song and the way they can take an audience, whether in the room or listening ...
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