Jazz Articles

Kayhan Kalhor: Hawniyaz

by Karl Ackermann
August 1, 2016

Western music listeners may not be quick to conjure a connection with Iran and improvised music but there is much spontaneity across genres throughout the Central Asian region. One of the few artists known to U.S. markets is kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor. The kamancheh, sometimes called the “spike fiddle," is common to Central Asia and dates back to the eleventh century. It has had a long-time presence in Middle Eastern classical music but is frequently used in folk and religious ...

Jaga Jazzist: Starfire

by Alex Franquelli
June 23, 2015

First things first: let's leave the definition of Jaga Jazzist music for last. Or, better, let's not even consider using labels. Let's not rush to conclusions, let's not fall in the sweet traps of music criticism where one plunges in forced by adjectives, hyperboles, comparisons, clever rhetoric and assorted namedropping. First things first, we said, as if it were easy to define an ensemble which has rewritten the history of European contemporary jazz by adding progressive, noise, classical and electronic ...

Mulatu Astatke: Sketches of Ethiopia

by Ian Patterson
October 12, 2014

Vibraphonist/composer Mulatu Astatke is the creator of Ethio-jazz and reputedly the first African musician to study at Berklee. Prior to that he had studied music in Wales and London. Whilst in America in the 1960s and early 1970s Astatke absorbed diverse influences and a dense rhythmic mosaic is a key component of this pulsating recording. Afro-Latin, jazz and funk vibes meet traditional Ethiopian roots music, with Astatke leading a stellar band of musicians from Ethiopia, London and Paris.

Henry Mancini: Music for Peter Gunn

by Jack Bowers
July 29, 2014

Who could ever forget the assertive, pulse-quickening theme from Peter Gunn, the urbane TV detective series that ran from 1958-61, with its jazz-centered score by the incomparable Henry Mancini. In case you are one of those who has (forgotten the theme, that is), you can now savor it anew (with much more music from the show), splendidly performed by the Harmonie Ensemble / New York, directed by Steven Richman. Among other things, the series showcased a small jazz group playing ...

Harold Lopez-Nussa: New Day

by C. Michael Bailey
November 8, 2013

Havana-native pianist/composer Harold López-Nussa is not an unknown entity. He has released five recordings previous to the present New Day and all before 30 years of age. His is a an assertive Latin Jazz infused with the essence of Western Europe. His training includes the Manuel Saumell and Amadeo Roldán Conservatories, graduating with a specialty in Classic Piano from the Higher Institute of Arts. His attention eventually turned toward jazz, an area he has continued to expand and expound upon ...

Harold Lopez-Nussa: New Day

by Ian Patterson
November 1, 2013

Following in the footsteps and tradition of Chucho Valdés, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Roberto Fonseca, Harold López-Nussa is at the forefront of a new generation of Cuban jazz pianists, one that includes Rolando Luna and Marialy Pacheco--fellow winners of the Montreux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition. López-Nussa's win in 2005 launched an international career that has since seen him play the world's great jazz festivals and collaborate with such notables as vibraphonist Stefon Harris, saxophonist David Sanchez and trumpeter Christian Scott ...

Mulatu Astatke: Sketches of Ethiopia

by Chris May
September 1, 2013

Sketches of Ethiopia is, extraordinarily, the first album Mulatu Astatke, the godfather of Ethio-jazz, has recorded with his own band for an international label of influence. It has been a long time coming and it is a corker.Astatke, on vibraphone and keyboards, is accompanied by his regular touring band, Step Ahead, which has at its core A-list British jazz musicians--among them, trumpeter Byron Wallen, drummer Tom Skinner, bassist John Edwards and reed player James Arden. Step Ahead's 12-piece ...

Ibrahim Maalouf: Diagnostic

by Hrayr Attarian
December 6, 2011

Much like his uncle, the celebrated author Amin Maalouf--who brought Levantine raconteur to the western novel--trumpeter/composer Ibrahim Maalouf infuses his jazz with Middle Eastern musicality. On Diagnostic--the last installment of a trilogy--Maalouf actually draws from many different sources to create a unique sound that remains definitely in the jazz tradition. The all-woman, Franco-Brazilian Batacuda group Zalindê brings a Latin sound to pieces like to “Maeva in Wonderland," especially after the midpoint, when Maalouf switches from trumpet to ...

The Tokyo Quartet: Beethoven: The "Late" Quartets

by AAJ Staff
November 23, 2010

Just as any real and informed music fan is familiar with the Duke Ellington “Blanton Webster Band," Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue (Columbia, 1959), and Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens recordings, so should they also be immersed in Beethoven's famous late string quartets. There are pre-echoes of twentieth century popular music harmony here, but additionally, there is a depth that travels beyond music. These late quartets--said to summarize all Beethoven's musical explorations--have been recorded by the ...

Orchestre National de Jazz: Close to Heaven

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
April 11, 2006

Orchestre National de Jazz Close to Heaven Le Chant Du Monde Harmonia Mundi ---> 2006

Some readers might recall, fondly or otherwise, Dread Zeppelin, a band with at least one too many gimmicks: fronted by an Elvis impersonator, they performed reggae versions of Led Zeppelin songs (in place of the drum solo on “Moby Dick," the Elvis stand-in read aloud from the novel Moby Dick). One is tempted to approach a new album of ...