Jazz Articles
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Touch and Go Sextet: Live at the Novara Jazz Festival
by Robert Bush
Drummer Vijay Anderson formed the Touch and Go Sextet in the Bay Area as a vehicle for performing and interpreting the works of visiting musicians, but his concurrent studies with alto sax legend Roscoe Mitchell gave him the confidence to steer this three-reed, one trumpet and double-bass ensemble into original compositions, the results of which are clearly realized on Live at the Novara Jazz Festival. On “Slippin,'" the horns wrap around each other like snakes in ...
read moreGavin Templeton: In Series
by Glenn Astarita
Alto saxophonist Gavin Templeton has become a pivotal force in the L.A. progressive jazz scene and it's easily discernible, given his strong improvisational faculties, resonating tone, and penchant for bridging conventional means into the outside schema of the jazz vernacular. On his second solo release for Nine Winds Records, he embeds rock riffs, variable tempos, and odd-metered unison choruses with guitarist Perry Smith and a host of mood-evoking thematic episodes via these multicolored pieces. The artists conclude the ...
read moreDaniel Rosenboom: Book of Omens
by Troy Collins
jny: Los Angeles-based trumpet player Daniel Rosenboom is quickly becoming a ubiquitous presence in the West Coast's creative jazz scene. His credits include a variety of endeavors, from challenging sideman work with venerated scene leader Vinny Golia to membership in the radical young Balkan ensemble PLOTZ! His 2006 solo debut, Bloodier, Mean Son (Nine Winds) established Rosenboom as a singularly creative voice whose unique aesthetic encompasses an array of idiosyncratic influences, from efx-laden horn soliloquies to elaborate progressive metal-influenced full-band ...
read moreSlumgum / Hugh Ragin: The Sky His Own
by Eyal Hareuveni
The third release of the young Los Angeles-based, Cal Arts-educated Slumgum attempts to expand its musical universe. This inventive quartet already defined its rich aesthetic, drawing from diverse influences like jazz, free improvisation, world music and modern classical music, stressing a vivid sense of exploration and adventure with close and supportive interplay. On The Sky His Own, the quartet hosts veteran cornetist Hugh Ragin, who has collaborated with such important musicians as Roscoe Mitchell, Clark Terry, David Murray and Sun ...
read moreSlumgum / Hugh Ragin: The Sky His Own
by Hrayr Attarian
Slumgum exhibits a sophisticated voice and thematic cohesiveness on this, its third release, The Sky His Own. These characteristics are a testament to this innovative Los Angeles-based quartet's camaraderie and shared ideology, as all members of the group, including guest cornetist Hugh Ragin, contribute unique compositions. Ragin's expansive “Silver Cornet News" starts off hinting at hard bop, with drummer Trevor Anderies energetically driving the melody. Known for the breadth of his ingenuity, Ragin does not disappoint, as ...
read moreTeofilovici and Miroslav Tadic: Vidarica
by Nenad Georgievski
There are types of music that grow on you with every new Listen, and then there are types of music that fade away when played too often. Vidarica--the collaboration between guitarist Miroslav Tadić and vocal duo the Teofilovic brothers-- definitely is one of those rarely crafted albums that grows with each new listen. In a way, this is a dream pairing and reveals them to be a perfect match for each other. It has been a very long time coming, ...
read moreThe Vinny Golia Octet: Music for Baritone Saxophone
by Robert Bush
Vinny Golia OctetMusic For Baritone SaxophoneNine Winds Records2011 Woodwind multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia has been both the beacon and a touchstone for the West Coast free improvising community, particularly in Los Angeles, for over 30 years. Golia started his Nine Winds label in 1977, as a vehicle for distributing his own music, then expanded its mission statement around 1980 to document music from Canada to Mexico that wasn't being heard. Some 200 ...
read moreJoey Sellers' Jazz Aggregation: El Payaso
by Jack Bowers
In reviewing an album such as El Payaso, it is perhaps best to separate the performance from the music. The performance is quite good; as these dozen gentlemen are first-class musicians from the Big Apple, one would expect no less. As for the music, it is on the whole bright and enterprising, reminiscent of themes by Anthony Braxton, Carla Bley, Henry Threadgill, George Gruntz, David Murray, Pierre Dorgé, Vinny Golia (for whose label it was recorded) and other cutting-edge composers. ...
read moreMTKJ Quartet: Day of the Race
by Rex Butters
Even with commitments across the West Coast musical spectrum, the members of MTKJ managed to reunite for this, their second recording for Vinny Golia's Nine Winds label and fourth overall. Day of the Race delivers an exciting and fresh collection of performances that show a great band getting better. Their balance of subtlety and pyrotechnics centers around compositions as interesting as the dynamic flights they inspire. Paul Kikuchi's rainbow of rhythm, Ivan Johnson's velvety, nuanced bass, Kris Tiner's range of ...
read moreVinny Golia: Music for Like Instruments: The Clarinets
by Michael Davis
Quick, when was the last time you were confronted by a quintet of clarinets? Even in the wide-open world of creative jazz, who out there puts five black sticks in your ear and makes you like it? Yes, this is the latest installment of Vinny Golia's Music for Like Instruments series, and as with the others, he's aided by some of Southern California's leading up-and-comers. Brian Walsh, for instance, can be heard to good effect on recent releases by Harris ...
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