Results for "Kyle Shepherd"

Kyle Shepherd

2021’s Overlooked and Underrated Gems

by Pat Youngspiel
February 17, 2022

Giovanni Guidi Ojos De Gato CAM Jazz 2021 In a year where saxophone roots-revivalist James Brandon Lewis made headlines everywhere --topping multiple year end lists for his collaboration with the Red Lily quartet on Jesup Wagon (among numerous placements in jazz publications around the globe for that album and ...

Playing For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath

by Ian Patterson
July 1, 2020

Playing For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath Edited by Daniel Fischlin & Eric Porter 352 Pages ISBN: 978-1-4780-0814-9 Duke University Press 2020 Musical improvisation is often described as a conversation. A universal language. Musicians trading back and forth seem to be having a blast, which, on occasion, for ...

Claude Cozens: Reimagining Rhythm

by Seton Hawkins
November 1, 2019

The Cape Jazz sound of South Africa is known to international audiences primarily thanks to the music of pianist Abdullah Ibrahim. However, the music and traditions of Cape Town and the Western Cape run much deeper, reflecting an extraordinary, sometimes contradictory, and exceedingly complex set of cultures and traditions reflected in the area. Within this environment ...

Skyjack: The Hunter

by Dan Bilawsky
October 2, 2019

This second album from South African-Swiss cooperative Skyjack strikes a smart balance between ideation and instinct. Feedback loops fire the imagination of the album's five participants, with input and output acting and reacting to one another in real time. As on the band's eponymous debut, independence and interdependence each play a role in these romping games. ...

Carlo Mombelli: Angels and Demons

by Seton Hawkins
April 22, 2019

One of music's criminally underrated geniuses, South African electric bassist and composer Carlo Mombelli has carved out a most extraordinary performing and writing career in music. Throughout his four decades as a performer, Mombelli has forged one of the most distinctive electric bass approaches in Jazz, established himself as South Africa's most exceptional composer, and has ...

South African Saliency: Reza Khota, Carlo Mombelli, Andrew Lilley, and Mandisi Dyantyis

by Dan Bilawsky
February 20, 2019

As sure as the sun will shine on Chapman's Peak and the winds will sweep over Table Mountain, South Africa will continue to flourish and birth new music worthy of worldwide attention. The West may typically pay little to no mind to South African jazz and the artists who shape it, but that has yet to ...

Mandla Mlangeni: Born to Be

by Seton Hawkins
June 11, 2018

Mandla Mlangeni has been engaged. The South African trumpeter, composer, and bandleader oversees three groups, notably the Amandla Freedom Ensemble and the Tune Recreation Committee. Additionally, his works are marked by an intense effort to explore and connect with social discourse in the country today. Indeed, from the Tune Recreation Committee's naming nod to South Africa's ...

Vuma Levin: Musical Painting

by Seton Hawkins
May 8, 2018

South African guitarist and composer Vuma Levin has been receiving significant accolades in local and international circles, and it's easy to see why. A thoughtful, intelligent improviser and bandleader, Levin is also a highly thought-provoking composer, one intent on exploring the music's role in commenting on and shaping societal discourse. Indeed, with last year's ...

Nduduzo Makhathini: Jazz Is a Shared Memory

by Seton Hawkins
February 1, 2018

It can be overwhelming to keep up with the artistic growth, creative reach, and constant development that marks the career of Nduduzo Makhathini. In the past four years, he has released eight solo albums, all exploring remarkably different territories and demonstrating a ceaselessly probing mind and inventive creative urge. In addition to that, he has emerged ...