Content by tag "Tom Varner"

Hanksgiving: Jazz Tributes to Hank Williams

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

Do you sympathize with the plight of the turkeys? Do family reunions bring you anxiety? Then forget about Thanksgiving! Mondo Jazz is here to help you switch to Hanksgiving, with two hours of Jazz tributes to the great Hank Williams, the only singer who is more American than pumpkin pie!

This week we have ...

Tom Rainey: Obbligato

By TROY COLLINS

Tom Rainey has been a fixture in New York's Downtown scene since the early '90s. The stalwart drummer's current efforts have found him expanding his purview, collaborating with a new generation of creative improvisers. Working on original material with young Brooklyn-based artists like Ingrid Laubrock and Mary Halvorson, Rainey continues experiments in form and structure that ...

Tom Varner

By AAJ ITALY STAFF

01. Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (Prestige - 1956). Solenne, ricco di maestria tecnica, di inventiva, spavaldo. 02. Julius Watkins - French Horns for My Lady (Phillips - 1961). Sentimentale ma ancora attuale, Julius al top con altri quattro corni francesi e George Duvivier, Ray Barreto, Gil Melle. Prodotto da Quincy Jones con gli arrangiamenti di Billy Byers (Sinatra). 03. The ...

Tom Varner: Second Communion

By GLENN ASTARITA

French hornist Tom Varner's previous OmniTone release, Swimming was considered by many as one of the finest modern jazz releases of 1999. On his follow-up, the artist renders a keenly perceptive tribute to the late trumpeter Don Cherry. Part of the beauty resides within Varner's ability to interject a sense of duality into his compositional forums ...

Tom Varner: Swimming

By GLENN ASTARITA

Other than being a top flight and much in demand session musician, french hornist Tom Varner has rapidly established a reputation as being a formidable composer-leader resulting from a string of highly successful solo recordings. Here, on Swimming Varner helps inaugurate the promising newOmniTonelabel which has jumped out of the gate rather quickly with excellent new ...

Tom Varner: The Window Up Above (American Songs 1770-1998)

By GLENN ASTARITA

Tom Varner’s “The Window Up Above-American Songs 1770-1998” showcases Varner’s impeccable chops and sharp musical sense as he traces the history of American Song from the Revolutionary War through Bruce Springsteen’s contemporary “With Every Wish”.

The title cut-“The Window Up Above” was composed by famed Country & Western crooner George Jones while “Thirsty” Dave Hansen vocalizes ...

Tom Varner: Martian Heartache

By GLENN ASTARITA

Released by Soul Note in 1997, “Martian Heartache” is a poignant and multifaceted project led by Tom Varner who is perhaps the preeminent French Hornist in jazz. Here, Varner gets optimum support from some of New York City’s finest.

All compositions are by Varner. “Keep It Up” is a Funk-R&B induced thriller, which evolves into a ...