Home » Search Center » Results: Album Reviews
Results for "Album Reviews"
Rodrigo Pinheiro/Wschod: Wschod
by Don Phipps
Chamber jazz has provided an intriguing combination of abstract jazz and modern-classical experimentation, and Clean Feed should be applauded for giving the world a library of music by artists in this mold. Case in point, pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro's trio Wschod, which says that it strives to go beyond established norms. If by this, Pinhiero and company ...
Zach Brock / Matt Ulery / Jon Deitmeyer: Wonderment
by Mike Jurkovic
A bold, enticing recording, Wonderment vividly captures all the energy and creative frisson that seems to stream endlessly from three of modern music's leading creators, Grammy-winning violinist Zack Brock, in-demand bassist and Woolgathering Records founder Matt Ulery, and drummer Jon Deitmeyer. Having played together in Chicago's burgeoning jazz atmosphere since 2005, Wonderment is the ...
Rich Halley with Matthew Shipp, Michael Bisio and Newman Taylor Baker: Terra Incognita
by Karl Ackermann
Rich Halley's leader debut Multnomah Rhythms (Avocet, 1983) featured a large ensemble, a formation that the saxophonist favored for the better part of two decades. When he pared back personnel, he was equally committed to his quartet, recording six albums with trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, bassist Clyde Reed and son, Carson Halley on drums. The Outlier (Pine ...
Evan Parker / Paul G. Smyth: Calenture and Light Leaks
by Don Phipps
The live collaboration of the remarkable English tenor saxophonist Evan Parker and Irish pianist Paul G. Smyth on their album Calenture and Light Leaks is like listening to the piano impressions of Debussy while exploring a gallery of Picassos--pure bliss in action. There is an airy quality to the abstractions here, like playful sunbeams ...
Anne Mette Iversen: Invincible Nimbus
by Mike Jurkovic
Given the sometimes Euro-chamber sounding approach to Denmark's Berlin-based bassist/composer Anne Mette Iversen's thoroughly interactive music, when she wants to have some fun, the music moves more to the freedom swing of Charles Mingus and the rhythmic conjurings of Dave Holland. This is heard most enjoyably on her dynamic second disc, Invincible Nimbus. Mingus ...
Francesco Massaro: Maniera Nera
by Neri Pollastri
La “maniera nera" è una tecnica grafica consistente nell'incisione di superficie annerite dal fumo, così da disegnare figure chiare sullo sfondo scuro. Da questa tecnica prende metaforicamente spunto Francesco Massaro, uno dei nostri musicisti più originali e coraggiosi, per avvicinare due realtà così diverse quali sono la composizione e l'improvvisazione. Una metafora che può ...
Jamie Baum: Bridges
by Angelo Leonardi
L'interesse di Jamie Baum a integrare nella sua ricerca varie tradizioni musicali orientali trova in questo disco l'espressione più ampia e organica. L'invito a esibirsi nel 2003 e nel 2009 al festival jazz di Kathmandu ha rappresentato per la flautista un'occasione per interagire con musicisti tradizionali nepalesi e indiani, stimolandola ad approfondire le loro musiche. I ...
Rich Willey's Boptism Big Band: Down & Dirty
by Jack Bowers
What's in a name? While that maxim remains a matter for debate, don't let this particular name mislead you. In the parlance of trumpeter Rich Willey's Los Angeles-based Boptism Big Band, Down & Dirty translates into well-scrubbed & swinging. There's really no better way to describe the performance of eleven of Willey's wide-ranging compositions and one ...
Kenneth Jimenez: Sublunary Minds
by Troy Dostert
Although he is a relative newcomer as a bassist and composer, Kenneth Jimenez keeps some pretty distinguished company. One of his current projects, Sonnet to Silence, marshals the talents of some avant-garde heavy hitters, pianist Angelica Sanchez, drummer Gerald Cleaver, and saxophonist Hery Paz. His partners on Sublunary Minds, his second disc as leader, aren't quite ...
Whit Dickey/Tao Quartets: Peace Planet & Box of Light
by Don Phipps
Shimmering contrasts and flights of fancy await the listener of these fine sets of free playing put together by primary composer and drummer extraordinaire Whit Dickey. Available as a double album, Dickey's Tao Quartets' Peace Planet & Box of Light is really two separate albums. One, (Peace Planet ), features a quartet of Dickey, Matthew Shipp ...
