Jazz Articles

Abram Wilson: Life Paintings

by Chris May
October 24, 2009

Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas but brought up in New Orleans, where he studied at the Center for Creative Artists--alma mater of fellow trumpeters Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and Nicholas Payton--Abram Wilson relocated to London in 2002. In 2003 he signed to Dune Records, the recording and management home for a number of significant, London-based, black artists. Life Paintings is his third album for the label.Wilson's previous disc, Ride! Ferris Wheel To The Modern Day Delta (Dune, 2007), ...

Abram Wilson: Ride! Ferris Wheel To The Modern Day Delta

by Chris May
April 11, 2007

An intact and heritage-conscious American abroad, the Arkansas-born, Louisiana-raised trumpeter Abram Wilson--based in London these past five years--made his debut as leader in 2004 with Jazz Warrior (Dune). The album attempted the difficult trick of addressing both jazz and hip hop, with unconvincing results, and this new set avers that it continues along a similar route. It does and it doesn't--but this time the music is an unqualified success.

Ride! Ferris Wheel To The Modern Day Delta purports to tell ...

Soweto Kinch: A Life In The Day Of B19: Tales Of The Towerblock

by Chris May
September 14, 2006

British saxophonist Soweto Kinch polarised opinion to the max in 2003, with his jazz 'n' hip-hop debut, Conversations With The Unseen (Dune). Many older listeners hated it, regarding it as a betrayal of tradition of Judas-like proportions. Younger, more inclusive listeners loved it, welcoming it as, simultaneously, a reconnection with jazz's long-lost roots in urban street culture and a way forward into a brighter and more vigorous future.

The battle lines weren't wholly characterised by age and anticipated prejudice, however. ...

Soweto Kinch: Conversations with the Unseen

by AAJ Staff
January 30, 2005

Shortly after he released the RH Factor last year, trumpeter Roy Hargrove said, “They had me figured for a jazz guy. But I have roots in hip-hop and R&B. This album is just the opening of a door." On Dec. 7th at the Jazz Gallery, British alto player/rapper Soweto Kinch opened that door a little wider. On its debut album, Conversations with the Unseen , Kinch's band begins with an organic groove, while Kinch and a guest vocalist ...

Soweto Kinch: Soweto Kinch: Conversations With The Unseen

by Mark Sabbatini
January 13, 2005

The journey from disdain to serious respect takes about twenty seconds. It just requires two minutes to get there.Soweto Kinch opens Conversations With The Unseen with a hip-hop “welcome to the session" rap that might trick new listeners (guilty) into thinking a bunch of self-hyping doo-wop lies ahead. But the alto saxophonist literally blows that perception away seconds into the second track, storming his way through a set approaching the likes of Branford Marsalis and Chris Potter in ...

The Jazz Jamaica All Stars: Massive

by Jack Bowers
October 25, 2004

If one were to award points for boldness and thinking outside the box, the Jazz Jamaica All Stars would rank high by any measure. The All Stars, a large ensemble of (mostly) Brits, several with Caribbean or African roots, led by Jamaican bassist Gary Crosby (whose core group, the 10-piece Jazz Jamaica, has released two earlier albums), have something to prove--that almost any music can be adapted to suit the rhythmic and harmonic temperament of the West Indies. “My aim," ...

Jazz Jamaica All Stars: Massive

by Norman Weinstein
September 4, 2004

Jazz artists experimenting with Jamaican pop musical forms are nothing new, but this U.K. musical group does so with an imaginative freshness and an instrumental virtuosity that is groundbreaking. Led by bassist Gary Crosby, this ten piece band, augmented by a happy band of additional studio musicians, offers a completely beguiling synthesis of ska and jazz, “skazz," working within the tight constraints of ska's insistent, polka-like rhythms. Ska revival bands, both rock and jazz, have been heavily ...

Soweto Kinch: Conversations With The Unseen

by AAJ Staff
July 3, 2004

Soweto Kinch, a young British saxophonist with Jamaican roots, has created quite a stir in Europe. Judging from this, his first CD, the raves are well-deserved. Conversations With The Unseen contains some attempts to merge jazz and hip hop, but it is primarily a showcase for Kinch, an exceptionally gifted jazz musician, and his taut, hard-swinging band.

Kinch is an astonishingly good player, especially for one still in his mid-20s. He has a gorgeous, round tone that fills the horn, ...