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Jordan VanHemert: Survival of the Fittest
by Jack Bowers
Although the title of saxophonist Jordan VanHemert's fifth album, Survival of the Fittest, may elicit images of a crash course in self-defense, that is not at all what he had in mind. The music is thematic, he says, and represents the twin lodestars of adversity and resilience. Even that, however, becomes largely irrelevant once VanHemert and ...
Nick Hempton Cory Weeds: Horns Locked
by Pierre Giroux
The storied tradition of tenor saxophone battles has produced some of jazz's most thrilling moments, dating back to the classic duels of Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt or Johnny Griffin and Eddie Davis. Carrying that torch forward with equal measures of bravado and reverence are Nick Hempton and Cory Weeds on Horns Locked, a rollicking straight-ahead ...
Kevin Fort: Everything I Love
by Hrayr Attarian
Pianist Kevin Fort is a virtuoso improviser and an imaginative composer with a refreshingly novel style rooted firmly in the mainstream tradition. In addition to playing with several Chicago-area artists, Fort leads a cohesive trio that has created a unique, delightfully textured sound. It is mostly with this ensemble that he has recorded his four superb ...
Dan Moretti and Brazilia: Live at the Pump House/Celebrating Wayne Shorter
by Jack Bowers
While everyone has ideas, some ideas are admittedly better than others. Saxophonist Dan Moretti and Brazilia's notion to salute the music of Wayne Shorter by reshaping and Latinizing eight of the legendary saxophonist's splendid compositions was a good idea. Doubters need only survey the finished product, recorded in front of an enthusiastic audience in December 2024 ...
Michelle Nicolle & Larry Koonse: The Silent Wish
by Pierre Giroux
In The Silent Wish, Australian vocalist Michelle Nicolle collaborates with American guitar virtuoso Larry Koonse in a duo setting that removes all excess, revealing the essence of musical conversation. This recording is both daring and intimate, as it marks Nicolle's entry into a new chapter of vocal exploration, driven by a desire to awaken her creative ...
Phillip Golub / Lesley Mok: Dream Brigade
by John Sharpe
Pianist Phillip Golub and drummer Lesley Mok explore the porous boundaries between form and freedom on their exploratory debut as Dream Brigade, blending spontaneous composition with intuitive interplay in a wide-ranging program of six spontaneous inventions and two dives into the Great American Songbook. An in-demand side person, Mok can be heard in the ...
Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness: Sextet
by Alberto Bazzurro
Dopo un primo album in trio (2011) e un secondo in quartetto (2019), Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness, il gruppo fondato da Tony Jones e Charlie Burnham (qui impegnato nei primi due brani anche alla voce) si amplia a sestetto per questo suo nuovo lavoro (inciso alla fine del 2023), evidenziando specificità di organico (e quindi timbriche ...
Win Pongsakorn: Time Has Changed
by Jack Bowers
Time Has Changed is the second recording as leader by trumpeter Win Pongsakorn who was born in Bangkok, Thailand, but has been firmly wedded to American-style contemporary jazz since he started playing trumpet at age fourteen in 2011. As on his debut album, Yes, It Is! (Cellar Music, 2020), Pongsakorn is backed by a stellar rhythm ...
Silke Eberhard Trio with Jan Roder and Kay Lübke: Being-A-Ning
by Mark Corroto
It is rare to describe an audio recording as brave, but that is precisely what the latest release by the Silke Eberhard Trio is--bold, fearless, and unflinchingly original. Being-A-Ning, the group's fifth album, borrows its title from Thelonious Monk's “Rhythm-A-Ning," nodding to the jazz giant while continuing the trio's thematic naming convention. Previous albums--Being (2008) and ...
Charles Mingus: Mingus in Argentina
by Jack Kenny
This latter-day Charles Mingus group is ripe for reassessment. The new guys, Ricky Ford, Robert Neloms and Jack Walrath carried a heavy burden as they toured South America. The two-CD collection is a great feast of Mingus played by a band that, as yet, has never had real recognition. Much of the music was written for ...
