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Album Review

Rachel Eckroth: The Garden

Read "The Garden" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Pianist and composer Rachel Eckroth travels a twisty road on this CD, creating an ever-changing mix of jazz, prog rock, and fusion which utilizes off- center beats and swarming electronic effects. Eckroth's music is a little different on each track. Sometimes it builds up from layers of piano and synthesizers. At other times it works out of the basic piano trio format. Everything she creates, though, has an edgy, ominous atmosphere which lends itself as much to dark ...

5
Album Review

Rachel Eckroth: The Garden

Read "The Garden" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


One of the Phoenix's brightest lights, pianist-composer-vocalist Rachel Eckroth, who has ably added depth to the music of such polar opposites as Chris Botti, Rufus Wainwright, and St. Vincent, leaves no stone unturned in The Garden, her darkly convincing, Rainy Day Records debut. It is immediately apparent that Eckroth hears things unlike the rest of us. Her music is a prowling evolution, full of darkness yet attainable, redeemable light. Without hesitancy, she shapes and seizes, assembles, dissects, and ...

8
Album Review

Benito Gonzalez: Sing To The World

Read "Sing To The World" reviewed by Jim Worsley


Unbridled rhythmic fury fueled by a rich harmonic underbelly is the essence of Sing To The World. Pianist Benito Gonzalez has once again assembled a vibrant cast that flourishes on ten original creations. Inventive and energetic, the ensemble gels in the moment and establishes interplay with rich and intelligent conversation. The depth and articulation comes as no surprise, with reference to his previous works as a leader and the seven years Gonzalez spent as a member of Kenny Garrett's band. ...

9
Album Review

Arseny Ryklov: Forgotten Melody

Read "Forgotten Melody" reviewed by Peter J. Hoetjes


Released on the St. Petersburg-based Rainy Days label, Arseny Ryklov's Forgotten Melody is categorized, by the pianist himself, as “contemporary jazz." While undoubtedly true, this is an interesting classification, given his background. “There are two styles that made the biggest impact on me," Ryklov states, “ECM and classical music, particularly impressionists and Russian composers." While this trio album does contain a few moments clearly inspired by dreamy impressionism, particularly during its second half, the overt classical influences heard here are ...

5
Album Review

Sasha Mashin: Happy Synapse

Read "Happy Synapse" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Whoa! Russian born drummer Sasha Mashin kicks off his high-flying second disc with the crackling, manically modal, high-powered, retro-Impulse! speed-buzz of “The Hidden Voice," written by fevered alto-saxophonist Rosario giuliani, and Happy Synapse barely lets up from there. It is a sweet sound, a really, really sweet sound. Mashin intros “The Hidden Voice" like a flash bomb. Pianist Benito Gonzalez block chords in like McCoy Tyner behind Elvin Jones and it is off to the races as Giuliani, ...

12
Album Review

JZ Replacement: Disrespectful

Read "Disrespectful" reviewed by Chris May


Visceralism and virtuosity, the two qualities which define this momentous debut album by JZ Replacement, make an unbeatable combination. They are also a necessary one. Without a degree of virtuosity, eloquence is constrained by lack of vocabulary. Without a degree of visceralism, technical facility is at worst mechanistic, at best purely cerebral. Bring the two qualities together and the result can be special. JZ Replacement--a duo comprising alto saxophonist Zhenya Strigalev and drummer Jamie Murray--achieves an ideal ...

11
Album Review

Makar Kashitsyn: Jazz Animals

Read "Jazz Animals" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Straight outta St. Petersburg, Rainy Days Records has done a splendid job of documenting some of the strongest emerging voices in Russian jazz, starting with drummer Sasha Mashin's superb Outsidethebox in 2018. Mashin's debut release belied his youth with an assured poise and dynamic vision, and here we have yet another wonderful first outing: alto saxophonist Makar Kashitsyn's Jazz Animals. In keeping with the spirit of this no-longer-fledgling label, Kashitsyn showcases the kinetic energy and breadth of concept Rainy Days ...

8
Album Review

Evgeny Sivtsov: Zoo

Read "Zoo" reviewed by Don Phipps


On Zoo, composer and pianist Evgeny Sivtsov reimagines and contrasts jazz styles in a clever and skillful manner. Sivtsov sounds like a cross between Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, or even Lennie Tristano—not just in his technique, but in his attack as well. This makes for piano playing that, depending upon the number, is at times robust or subdued, but always steeped in the jazz tradition. On his six original compositions, he's joined by bassist Dan Chmielinski and drummer Shawn Baltazor. ...

30
Album Review

Zhenya Strigalev and Federico Dannemann: The Change

Read "The Change" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


The leaders of this date met 14-years ago at the Royal Academy Music and have become important contributors to London's jazz scene. The album title parallels life's changes, namely saxophonist Zhenya Strigalev's move back to Russia and guitarist Federico Danneman's return to performing after devoting much of his time to teaching in Santiago, Chile. As first-call New York City musicians, drummer Obed Calvaire and bassist Luques Curtis round-out this bopping and impassioned jazz fusion set, galvanized by the musicians' perpetual ...

5
Album Review

Zhenya Strigalev and Federico Dannemann: The Change

Read "The Change" reviewed by Roger Farbey


Zhenya Strigalev and Federico Danneman previously recorded together on Strigalev's Blues For Maggie (Whirlwind, 2018), but with the possible exception of that album's penultimate track ,"Little Struggle," the fare offered there differed a little from what's on offer here. The Change unequivocally oozes rock-infused take-no-prisoners jazz. Perhaps the nearest comparison to this band, and this is no hyperbolic comparison, would be Tony Williams' Lifetime. Ok, it may lack the genius of Larry Young but it's more than compensated for by ...


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