Jazz Articles
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Jalen Baker: Be Still
by Neil Duggan
When studying to become a jazz drummer, students are often exposed to other percussion instruments in the course of their studies and sometimes that results in finding a specialty. That was the case for Jalen Baker, who started experimenting on the vibraphone and has now gone on to be one of the most compelling players around. Be Still is his second album. It follows on from his debut album, This Is Me, This Is Us (Outside in Music, 2021). He ...
read moreJalen Baker: Be Still
by Pierre Giroux
Tenor saxophonist and record executive Cory Weeds presents another album in the series of releases by up-and-coming black artists, to give them a voice which might not otherwise be heard. In this case, the artist is vibraphonist Jalen Baker; he and his frequent collaborators, pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Gabriel Godoy and drummer Gavin Moolchan, run through some songs which have been both inspirational and representational to Baker as his career has developed. The opening number “T'Was" ...
read moreVicente Archer: Short Stories
by Mike Jurkovic
Bassist Vicente Archer may be a Grammy winner with a long grand vintage (Nicholas Payton, John Scofield, Kenny Garrett, Norah Jones) but he has not revealed his own particular harvest as he does on the amicable and resilient Short Stories. Accompanied on what is technically his debut, fellow Scofield and Payton alum, drummer Bill Stewart and ever curious pianist Gerald Clayton bring to these stories a captivating, unified narrative. The soft, insistent tannins of “Mirai" opens Short Stories ...
read moreNightcrawlers: Get Ready
by Pierre Giroux
The common thread between the Nightcrawlers and nightcrawler earthworms is that they both come out at night, and while the former is at home in a jazz club before a live audience, the latter is feeding on decaying organic material. Some may say that is a distinction without a difference. Nevertheless the latest nightly ritual for the Nightcrawlers is called Get Ready and it was recorded live at Frankie's Jazz Club in Vancouver B.C. This confident sextet is centred around ...
read moreDave Liebman: Dave Liebman: Live at Smalls
by Mike Jurkovic
A brief, charged commencement by Dave Liebman and trumpeter Peter Evans (Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Mary Halvorson) launches Dave Liebman: Live at Smalls and from there the nocturne reaches out like a rhizome—laterally, vertically, horizontally—thriving into your consciousness, taking root, expanding . . . Free jazz is and will always be a fertile mind-field, an active landscape where veterans such as the quintet here at Smalls, post-plague, in a city pulled apart by fact and fiction, ...
read moreAaron Seeber: First Move
by Troy Dostert
Given that it is his debut disc, drummer Aaron Seeber's First Move seems aptly titled. The music it offers is anything but an opening gambit, however; even after a cursory listen, it is quickly apparent that Seeber has been at this game for some time. From the top-shelf caliber of his associates, to his unfailing poise behind the kit, not to mention some great instincts for repertoire, Seeber has more than a few moves up his sleeve, and they always ...
read moreBrian Charette: Jackpot
by Pierre Giroux
In the tradition of some great Hammond organ players of the past, such as Jack McDuff, Melvin Rhyne, Don Patterson, Larry Young and Jimmy Smith, one leading practitioner on this instrument, Brian Charette, wanted to write some swinging and soulful bebop tunes which would honor the memory of these past greats. The musicians Charette chose to travel on this journey were steeped in this genre, tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds, funky guitarist Ed Cherry and the swinging drummer Bill Stewart. To ...
read moreSam Kirmayer: In This Moment
by Jack Bowers
Montreal-based guitarist Sam Kirmayer leads a well-modulated sextet on In This Moment, wherein all ten of the album's numbers were written by Kirmayer. That is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, Kirmayer's themes are, for the most part, light, sunny and squarely in the jazz tradition; on the other, none of them is likely to enter the standard canon. They are more pleasant than memorable, which evidently suits his purpose. The ensemble, however, gives ...
read moreMichael Weiss: Persistence
by Edward Blanco
An in-demand veteran of the vibrant New York jazz scene since the '80s, pianist Michael Weiss presents the warm and engaging Persistence, his fifth as a leader and first on the Cellar Live label, as well as being his first since the critically acclaimed Soul Journey, (Sintra Records, 2003). The long time span between recordings, despite many other opportunities since then, was primarily due to the artistic and creative terms not being ideal enough until the Cellar Live proposal. One ...
read moreBruce Harris: Soundview
by Pierre Giroux
Cory Weeds, who is the executive producer of Soundview, is also the major domo behind The Cellar Music Group. This Vancouver, B.C. entity is committed to providing black artists with the opportunity to record and showcase their talent under the guidance of well-known trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. This initial release features trumpeter Bruce Harris and provides him with the launch pad to pay tribute to his family and community in the Bronx.Accompanied by pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist David Wong, ...
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