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Alina Bzhezhinska & HipHarpCollective: Reflections
by Chris May
In an inspired piece of programming, London's Barbican Centre presented the then virtually unknown harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and her quartet as one of the support bands on its November 18, 2017 one-nighter A Concert for Alice and John, a show headlined by Pharoah Sanders. It would be an exaggeration to say Bzhezhinska stole the show (see “Pharoah Sanders" above), but she was sensational, offering up fresh readings of Alice Coltrane tunes and a few originals, accompanied by Tony Kofi on ...
read moreSean Khan: Supreme Love – A Journey Through Coltrane
by Chris May
One thing you can count on with alto and soprano saxophonist Sean Khan is that he will never approach a project from a predictable angle. In this he resembles tenor saxophonist Steve Williamson. Both are among the most idiosyncratic of British jazz musicians as well as being uncompromising exponents of jazz as rebel music. Both first made their mark as bandleaders twenty or so years ago experimenting with edgy collisions of hardcore acoustic jazz and dance music. Each player's cross-genre ...
read moreBilly Bang: Lucky Man
by Karl Ackermann
When he performed in Germany, they called him the “black devil violinist," his frenetic playing wrapped in a gyrating, trance-like state. For Billy Bang, who believed he had schizophrenia, the epithet bore a resemblance to his inner turmoil. He was born William Walker in Mobile, Alabama but grew up in the South Bronx. He studied violin and classical music, and his talent earned him a hardship scholarship to the Stockbridge School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Bang felt out of place in ...
read moreSean Khan: Distant Voice
by Chris May
Sean Khan is among the most interesting of British jazz musicians, a prime exponent of jazz as rebel music with a unique voice. And yet, twenty years after he debuted with his band SK Radicals, Khan remains one of the scene's least celebrated players. Khan accurately describes himself as a “career outsider." Like another outsider, fellow saxophonist Steve Williamson, his post-modern, cross-genre aesthetic resists categorisation and means that he remains a niche figure. Though you would never know it from ...
read moreCharles Mingus: Jazz In Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden
by Karl Ackermann
With previously unreleased material from Dexter Gordon, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and now, Charles Mingus, it may feel in 2018 like we are living fifty years in the past. Jazz In Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden captures a short-lived quintet that--given time--could have been Mingus' best. Drummer Roy Brooks and trumpeter Joe Gardner had been touring Europe with the bassist and returned to play a radio broadcast on WDET in Detroit in 1973. Their host was a ...
read moreCharles Mingus: Jazz In Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden
by Chris May
Summer 2018 saw the general release of privately held recordings by two giants of twentieth century jazz. First up was John Coltrane's Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!). It was followed by Thelonious Monk's Mønk (Gearbox). In autumn 2018, recordings by another totemic figure, Charles Mingus, become the year's third newly revealed archaeological discovery. The release of the Coltrane album was hyped as an event akin to the excavation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ...
read moreVarious Artists: Hugh Masekela Presents the Chisa Years 1965-76
by AAJ Staff
Following his departure from Johannesburg in 1961--around the same time that many other South African musicians put apartheid behind them--Hugh Masekela ensconced himself in New York and settled in to make a heap of recordings over the ensuing decades. Masekela, who first drew attention for his straight-ahead jazz playing, would eventually build an enormous American and international fan base through crossover music, as well as live performances like his appearance at the legendary 1967 Monterey Pop Festival along with Jimi ...
read moreMarley Marl: Re-Entry
by AAJ Staff
Marley Marl re-enters the hip-hop atmosphere with skills intact. Bringing to fruition the potential of BBE’s Beat Generation series, Re-Entry is a reminder of why Marley Marl is considered a classic producer. While the other producers in the series carefully adhered to their already tried and true blueprints, Re-Entry demonstrates Marley Marl’s trademark versatility. He even displays evidence of matching particular beats with the appropriate MC; a factor few producers seem to give any thought to these days. On “Three’s ...
read moreWill.I.Am: Lost Change
by AAJ Staff
Following a mixed response to installments by Jay Dee and Pete Rock, Volume 3 of The Beat Generation series sees Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas fame taking the control of the boards. Lost Change follows a similar pattern to BEP releases – succeeding in similar areas and falling prey to the same flaws. At his best, Will.i.am creates succulent beds of funky, layered and laid-back rhythms. “Lay Me Down," featuring Terry Dexter is a soulful, jazz inflected R&B excursion, complete ...
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