Home » Search Center » Results: Album Reviews
Results for "Album Reviews"
Bill Bruford's Earthworks: Earthworks Complete
by John Kelman
Since retiring as a professional musician in 2009, progressive/art rock turned jazz drummer Bill Bruford has successfully managed to maintained a place in the public eye. Beyond his engaging, informative and successful Bill Bruford: The Autobiography (Jawbone Press, 2009), the drummer/percussionist has more recently released a second, equally captivating book, Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer ...
Emanative & Phil Ranelin: Vibes From The Tribe
by Chris May
The Tribe referred to here was a musicians' cooperative in Detroit, Michigan, active from 1972-1977. It was co-founded by trombonist Phil Ranelin and saxophonist Wendell Harrison and was equal parts band, record label and community project. Trumpeter Marcus Belgrave was among the members. The organization had close affinities with Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative ...
Dave Liebman & Richie Beirach: Eternal Voices
by Roger Farbey
Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach have known each other for half a century and this double album is a celebration of their friendship. They've recorded together during this period in varying configurations. There was Liebman's short-lived but highly praised jazz rock group Lookout Farm formed in 1974 and from the 1980s there was Quest. But arguably ...
Ivan Conti: Poison Fruit
by Chris M. Slawecki
If the music on his fourth solo album Poison Fruit is a true indicator, Ivan “Mamão" Conti hasn't lost his uncanny producer's ear or instrumentalist's touch for clubbers or dancers in Brazil. A legendary bandleader, percussion and drum player, and composer, Mamão sweetens Poison Fruit by letting it ripen in the hands of two younger, next ...
Odil: Réson
by Geno Thackara
Though Camille-Alban Spreng has the chops and improvisational spirit of a jazz player, the band Odil's debut on Something (QFTF, 2016) established a wheelhouse also wide enough to include loose-form avant-garde and electric funk. This follow-up is billed entirely under the band's name instead of the leader's, which is appropriate given how well the unit has ...
Dave Stryker: Eight Track III
by C. Andrew Hovan
Attuned to the idea that you can never get too much of a good thing, guitarist Dave Stryker has forged sequels to some of his most dynamic projects. From his Steeplechase cannon there are the four volumes of Blue to the Bone and a pair of releases devoted to the electric side of Miles Davis. So ...
Dave Morgan: Blue Is More Than a Color
by Mark Corroto
With the modern availability of inexpensive recording technology, seemingly anyone can turn out a jazz release. It is, accordingly, a pleasure when a release comes about marked by superior craftsmanship. Blue Is More Than A Color, a jazz orchestra disc, is a fine example of not only excellent sound (not an easy task with 26 pieces) ...
Soft Machine: Hidden Details
by Chris M. Slawecki
Hidden Details celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Soft Machine's 1968 eponymous debut, a seismic event in the British psychedelic, jazz and rock music landscapes that still reverbates as the Canterbury scene/sound. This anniversary studio celebration also brought about Soft Machine's first tour of North America since 1974, with several 2018 shows featuring Gary Husband as guest ...
Richie Beirach-Gregor Huebner Duo and the WDR Big Band: Crossing Borders
by Jack Bowers
The “borders" that are earmarked to be crossed in this new album by pianist Richie Bierach, violinist Gregor Huebner and Germany's superb WDR Big Band are both geographic and musical. The collaborative effort is intended, on the one hand, to bridge the gap between people of various ethnicities and backgrounds and help bring them together, and, ...
Michael Eaton: Dialogical
by Troy Dostert
A saxophonist and composer with uncommon ambition, Michael Eaton seems to recognize no limits whatsoever on his craft. He's played in virtually every style imaginable: free improvisation, Latin jazz, post-bop, classical, reggae and rock, just to scratch the surface--and he keeps company with a cross-section of today's cutting-edge players, including James Brandon Lewis, Michael Attias and ...
