Jazz Articles

Flown: Flown

by Geno Thackara
December 26, 2018

As band names go, this is one with a range of possible meanings. Some searching shows that it's actually been used by a handful of different outfits ranging from punk-metal to experimental electronics. The Flown from Modena, Italy, meanwhile, finds a niche blending an insistent sense of rhythm with the looseness of free-jazz improv. They sound like they've flown away from not just the earth, but the more obvious notions of structure and harmony as well. If they ...

Enten Eller: Pietas

by Mark Corroto
November 3, 2014

There may be an Italian jazz ensemble that has been together longer than Enten Eller, but certainly there's not one that is as innovative and expressive as this quartet. Founded some 25 years ago by guitarist Maurizio Brunod and drummer Massimo Barbiero, the group has maintained its lineup with trumpeter Albert Mandarini and bassist Giovanni Maier for many years. The quartet has expanded occasionally with the invitations to distinguished players such as Tim Berne heard on Melquiades (Splasc(h), ...

Norberto Tamburrino: Deco

by John Barron
October 17, 2008

Italian pianist Norberto Tamburrino performs a mostly-solo set of his own compositions on Deco; a heartfelt representation of the pianist's passion for swinging, lyrical jazz. Tamburrino's piano playing, heavily influenced by Thelonious Monk, is ripe with percussive clatter and arpeggiated flourishes. Indeed, the inclusion of Monk's overlooked ballad “We See" demonstrates Tamburrino's thorough understanding of the familiar nuances associated with the late pianist. The opening title track, a duet with trumpeter Fabio Morgera, and Horace Silver's “A Lonely ...

Zlatko Kaucic: Tolminski Punt

by Budd Kopman
April 16, 2008

Tolminski Punt is a very intense work from drummer/percussionist Zlatko Kaucic, taking its inspiration from a peasant revolt in the city of Tolmin in 1713. Actually the culmination of a long series of uprisings caused by issues like taxation and repression, this particular revolt was brutally crushed by the Imperial army, its leaders beheaded. The question that arises when an artist asks the listener to accept the connection between the abstraction of music and a concrete place ...

Samo Salamon: Fall Memories

by Budd Kopman
January 31, 2008

Guitarist Samo Salamon's remarkable Fall Memories is the second part (in recording date order) of the diptych by his European Quartet that includes Nano (Zalozba Goga, 2007), and which represents the current state of Salamon's musical development. The most singular aspect of his music as it has progressed is that, while each release has a different sound and thus explores a different area of musical interest, Salamon's core style remains recognizable as it continues to be honed. ...

Zlatko Kaucic: L Tolminski Punt

by Nic Jones
July 12, 2007

Percussionist and composer Zlatko Kaucic has recorded previously for the Splas(c)h label, but L Tolminski Punt may be his best-realized project to date. All the elements that have figured in his music in the past are here again, which is a sign of coherent musical thinking and the fact that his artistic vision is coming together in a way that's an inevitable by-product of every form of artistic expression.

The instrumental line-up here serves inherently to lift the music out ...

Daniela Schachter: Il Colori Del Mare

by AAJ Staff
March 18, 2007

Over the course of many centuries, the island of Sicily has inspired artists from around the world, most recently pianist Daniela Schächter--a Sicilian relocated to the States--whose new release I Colori Del Mare is comprised almost entirely of originals dedicated to her homeland's shoreline. Schächter started her training in Italy and then continued in Boston, studying with Phil Wilson, Joe Lovano, Hal Crook and most significantly pianist Joanne Brackeen. She's since blossomed into a beautifully talented composer ...

Jaka Berger: BRGS Time - Bas Trio

by Budd Kopman
February 15, 2007

There is a certain rough-hewn directness in BRGS Time, the extremely interesting and challenging debut recording from drummer Jaka Berger. Berger is described by his compatriot Samo Salamon as a self-taught musician, which means to me that he has not allowed schooling to trample his originality. While ostensibly led by Berger, the session is actually a group effort by Berger, Achille Succi and Salamon (who have recorded together on Salamon-led albums including Kei's Secret). Of the ten ...

Samo Salamon: Kei's Secret

by Budd Kopman
January 31, 2007

Kei's Secret, a smoking live set from Slovenia, while clearly coming from the same root, could not be more different from Samo Salamon's previous album, Two Hours (FSNT, 2006). On that record, three terrific musicians got together with the guitarist on short notice and recorded what turned out to be some very fine music. The wonder of the record is that there is no hint of the means of its birth. Kei's Secret presents a band that ...

Zlatko Kaucic: Pav

by Budd Kopman
January 18, 2007

Pav is Zlatko Kaucic's solo percussion homage to a close friend and fellow countryman, Zmago Sfiligoj. Kaucic celebrates his creative power and intensity, which filled a short forty-year life. The image and symbology of the peacock pervade the album. Besides being featured on the cover, Chevalier and Gheerbrandt are quoted in their “Dictionary of Symbols" as saying that the peacock is a symbol in esoteric tradition of a wholeness that is made up of many small parts--and ...