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Ten Ka: Sonic Geometry - Structures, Patterns And Forms
by Vitalijus Gailius
Ten Ka means fire of the sky" in Japanese. It's the project of composer and multi-instrumentalist Deniss Pashkevich, who is one of the leading figures on the Latvian jazz scene. Some see him purely as part of the John Coltrane tradition but this is not the whole story. While Pashkevich definitely is an adherent ...
Mototeru Takagi: Live At Little John Yokohama 1999
by John Sharpe
Four Japanese improvisers gather for an absorbing summit meeting in the Tokyo port city on Live At Little John Yokohama 1999. Probably the best known of the quartet will be tenor saxophonist Mototeru Takagi, who appeared on drummer Milford Graves' underground classic Meditations Among Us (Kitty, 1977) some 22 years earlier. There is a whiff of ...
Kenny Garrett: Sounds From The Ancestors
by Ian Patterson
On Sounds from the Ancestors, Kenny Garrett's fifth album for Mack Avenue and his first since Do You Dance! (Mack Avenue 2016), the former saxophonist for both Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis, turns to the past for inspiration. From the Motown and gospel music he was weaned on as a youth growing up in ...
Steve Million: What I Meant to Say
by Richard J Salvucci
Steve Million, thoughtful, well established, and prolific, has recorded another elegant outing to complement his Jazz Words (Origin, 2021). No vocalist this time, but some old friends from his Kansas City days who combine to produce a wonderfully reflective entry. Million's compositions--and they are all his--are stylish and distinctive. Open the Book" ...
Dave Brubeck Quartet: Jazz at the College of the Pacific
by Keith Hatschek
December 14th 2021 marked the 58th anniversary of the concert by the Dave Brubeck Quartet held at College of the Pacific and immortalized on the album Jazz at College of the Pacific (Fantasy, 1954). Nat Hentoff praised the recording at the time of its release as, Five stars... ranks with the Oberlin and Storyville sets as ...
Alexis Valet: Explorers
by Geannine Reid
Alexis Valet is a vibraphonist making a name for himself in the French jazz scene as an accomplished sideman with the Xavier Belin Quartet, Shauli Einav Quintet, Joachim Govin Sextet, and most importantly, as a leader. His compositions draw their insight from contemporary jazz, hip hop, free jazz, and electronica while keeping a strong footing in ...
Amos Gillespie: Unstructured Time for Jazz Septet
by Jack Bowers
Chicago-based composer/educator/alto saxophonist Amos Gillespie's CD, Unstructured Time, employs a variety of time signatures but is anything but unstructured--in fact, the opposite may reasonably be opined, as taut structure is clearly front and center on the album's four instrumental and five vocal numbers. In other words, unstructured" in Gillespie's lexicon bears absolutely no resemblance to free" ...
Fourth Page: Encore With Masks
by John Eyles
The release of Encore With Masks represents a significant milestone for Fourth Page. The quartet of Charlie Beresford on guitar and vocals, Carolyn Hume on keyboards, Peter Marsh on bass and Paul May on drums first came together in 2010 and released its first two albums within a year. Five more albums followed, the last two, ...
Luis Vicente Trio: Chanting In The Name Of
by Glenn Astarita
All-world jazz man, world music maker and fierce improvisational drummer Hamid Drake penned venerating liners for this album led by the always in demand Portuguese trumpeter Luis Vicente and his trio. And Drake's correlations with estimable Sufi mystic and teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan's view that music is life, and a means of discovery that parallels the ...
Nick Maclean: Can You Hear Me?
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Nick Maclean plays in his comfort zones with his ensemble work in the funkified electric jazz group Snaggle, and in his New York City-style, Herbie Hancock-influenced modern jazz group, the Nick Maclean Quartet. But the solo formatat least in the recording studiois new territory to him. Undaunted by the prospect, he offers up a double ...

