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Ted Rosenthal Trio: High Standards
by Dan Bilawsky
Ted Rosenthal has remarkably high standards. How else to explain his vast achievement(s) over the past four decades? This ace pianist and composer has done it all--topped the pack at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, worked with the crème de la crème (i.e., baritone saxophone icon Gerry Mulligan, alto saxophone legend Phil Woods, multi-hyphenate ...
Albert Ayler Trio: Prophecy Live, First Visit
by Mark Corroto
No jazz artist has been as polarizing as Albert Ayler. Listeners either revere him as a prophet or dismiss him as a charlatan. To some, his music is a divine revelation; to others, an indecipherable cacophony. But while Ayler's music was undeniably radical, he was no insurrectionist-- he was simply a true original. His sound was ...
Ingrid Laubrock: Purposing The Air
by Thierry De Clemensat
Purposing The Air is a recording of extreme quality, though it is undoubtedly aimed at an informed audience, one more inclined toward contemporary classical music. While some pieces carry faint echoes of jazz, listening to this album is akin to stepping into a museum to attend a recital. Each artist is striving for excellence on every ...
Peter Madsen Trio: Faces of Love
by Troy Dostert
Although its title might suggest a surfeit of sentimentalism or saccharine balladry, there is nothing mawkish about pianist Peter Madsen's latest trio offering. Madsen instead is seeking a wider perspective from which to explore love in all its forms, drawing inspiration from a panoply of sources both familiar (Shakespeare, Dickinson, Blake) and not-so-familiar (Indian poet-activist Sarojini ...
Diana Panton: Soft Winds And Roses
by Pierre Giroux
Diana Panton has long been an artist of quiet yet undeniable depth, uniquely transforming melodies into deeply personal narratives. On Soft Winds and Roses, she focuses on modern classics from the 1960s onward, drawing from the songbooks of Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Gordon Lightfoot, Lennon and McCartney, Leonard Cohen, and Joni Mitchell, among many others. In ...
Yaron Herman: Radio Paradise
by Anastasia Bogomolets
"When I started working on this album, the first thing that came to my mind was melody. I have been writing a lot over the last few years, mostly in my notebooks, for myself. On the road or at home, anything from long lines to short fragments. With time, (and hard work) these “motifs" started to ...
Phil Brown: Rule Of Three
by Thierry De Clemensat
Though he resides in Illinois, it is likely double bassist, composer and teacher Phil Brown's Texan roots that inspired this album with its Latino flavors. Both entertaining and highly academic in concept, the album is enriched by the presence of Fareed Haque, an excellent guitarist who is himself deeply rooted in academic rigor. He reminds us ...
The 3 Cohens: Interaction
by Mike Jurkovic
As a thriving collective, the 3 Cohens have recorded four outstanding studio albums over the first quarter of the 21st century: the self-produced One (2003), 2007's Braid, 2011's Family and 2013's Tightrope, (last three released by Anzic Records, the label founded by clarinetist Anat Cohen with kindred-spirit producer-collaborator Oded Lev-Ari). Dipping, darting, diving, the 3 Cohens have crisscrossed the ...
Silvano Monasterios: The River
by Jack Bowers
To enhance his musical excursion along The River, composer, arranger and pianist Silvano Monasterios invited eight talented companions on board to share the ride. He did not make it easy for them. As envisioned by Monasterios, this river is by turns placid or turbulent, sparse or overflowing--but invariably tricky to navigate and tame. ...
Peter Smith: Smitty Straightens Out
by Thierry De Clemensat
Smitty Straightens Out captivates from the very first notes, drawing the listener into a world where the composer and pianist masterfully channels his years of experience into a singular, compelling and spectacular style. One can already sense the power of its live performance, as the artist's greatest strength undoubtedly lies in the sheer effectiveness of his ...
