Jazz Articles

Kali. Z. Fasteau: Intuit

by Mark Corroto
July 14, 2016

To pigeonhole a musician is to ghettoize a music. But we all do it. Yes, Kali Z. Fasteau is a pianist, but also a drummer, a cellist and a flutist. From her twenty plus recordings she refuses to be fixed with a descriptor. She also performs on the nai, kaval and shakuhachi flutes, is a vocalist, plays viola, violin, mizmar, soprano sax, synthesizers, and sanza. Like a modern Rahsaan Roland Kirk, she just makes music. Her brand (another ...

Kali. Z. Fasteau: Piano Rapture

by John Ephland
November 12, 2014

What makes Piano Rapture so engaging has to do with a combination of moods, movements and magic. Pianist Kali Z. Fasteau takes you on a musical journey into both past and present, with sounds that can be lyrical and rambunctious, quiet and rowdy. Featuring some exquisite wailing and sailing from tenor saxophonist Kidd Jordan, with healthy doses also coming from two other reed players--Lee Mixashawn Rozie on soprano and tenor along with a little flute here and there and some ...

Kali Z. Fasteau/ Kidd Jordan: Live at the Kerava Jazz Festival

by John Sharpe
July 8, 2008

Multi-instrumentalism is one of the enduring legacies of the '60s New Thing and Chicago's AACM, where everything was fair game in the hunt for unfettered expressionism. Few have taken it as far as Kali Z. Fasteau, who plays a different instrument on each of the nine tracks of this live recording from Finland's 2007 Kerava Jazz Festival. Perhaps surprisingly, this doesn't make for a smorgasbord of unrelated approaches, thanks to the unifying force of Kidd Jordan's tenor saxophone, featured on ...

Kali Z. Fasteau / Kidd Jordan: People of the Ninth: New Orleans and the Hurricane 2005

by Budd Kopman
March 31, 2007

In the waning days of September, 2005, the entire U.S. population watched as hurricane Katrina developed into a monster storm and seemed to take aim directly for New Orleans. Just at the last moment, the storm swerved a bit and weakened, allowing people to think that, once again, the bullet had been dodged. And then, as the storm passed, the levees broke and a tragic tale of loss, anguish, greed, stupidity, conspiracy theories and heroism began to ...

Kali Z. Fasteau/Kidd Jordan: People of the Ninth: New Orleans and the Hurricane 2005

by AAJ Staff
March 27, 2007

One of the great benefits of obscurity is the celebration of discovery. Throughout his career, saxophonist/teacher Kidd Jordan has been respected and hired by peers including Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman and Ellis Marsalis, but only since the late '90s has the septuagenarian begun to garner prolific recording opportunities and jazz festival invites. Multi-instrumentalist Kali Z. Fasteau is the latest to share the time-tested and distinctive playing of Jordan. For People of the Ninth: New Orleans and the ...

Kali Z. Fasteau: Making Waves

by Budd Kopman
January 31, 2005

Kali Z. Fasteau is one extremely versatile musician. On Making Waves she plays synthesizer, soprano sax, cello, drums, mizmar, and uses her voice (with electronics) as a pure instrument. On top of that, she recorded, edited and produced the CD. The recording quality is very good, allowing instruments to be placed clearly in space. Finally, she was kind enough to spend a lot of time with me via email in order to answer questions about her music. ...

Kali Z. Fasteau: Making Waves

by Terrell Kent Holmes
December 6, 2004

The best way to listen to multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Kali Z. Fasteau is to open up one's senses as a vessel to accomodate the myriad of textures, rhythms and themes she weaves throughout her work. Her new release, Making Waves , is comprised mostly of duets that cast her free jazz pedigree in bold face. Joining her on this aquatic excursion are tenor sax man Kidd Jordan, pianist Bobby Few and bassist Sirone. Fasteau builds the foundation ...

Kali Z. Fasteau: Oneness

by Kurt Gottschalk
July 25, 2003

Kali Fasteau is the keeper of a flame. While the high-octane experiments of the '60s New Thing are largely kept alive today by emulation, Fasteau holds to the era's spirit of exploration. Rather than engaging in long-winded blowing sessions, her interest lies in jazz-based journeys using different instrumental voices and cultural traditions as a vehicle. She uses her singing voice like Albert Ayler and her worldly collection of instruments and forms is an extension of the musical sociology that occupied ...

Kali Z. Fasteau: Vivid

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2001

The double entendre in the title of Vivid applies to color as well as emotion. Multi-instrumentalist Fasteau, who's traveled the world living and performing, offers an intriguing combination of soprano saxophone and voice, among other things. Her fusion of high-energy blowing with high-flying song fits surprisingly well into this mix of performers and instruments. When Fasteau sings, her soprano voice sounds eerily like a soprano saxophone--you might not catch it if you weren't paying attention.

Recorded live during three performances ...

Zusaan Kali Fasteau / Donald Rafael Garrett: Memoirs of a Dream

by Derek Taylor
August 1, 2000

Zusaan Kali Fasteau and Donald Rafael Garrett lived a life together that most couples only dream about. Sharing the vagabond existence of itinerant musicians for the better part of fourteen years they traversed the globe touching down in locales as varied as Senegal, Congo, Morocco, Haiti, France, Holland, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Yugoslavia. Along the way they communicated a highly personal style of creative improvised music to countless sets of open ears. This welcome release unearths two ...