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David Kikoski: Phoenix Rising
by Jack Bowers
Pianist David Kikoski and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, among the brightest lights on New York City's jazz scene for more than two decades, have known each other for almost as many years but Phoenix Rising marks the first time they have recorded together. After listening, one observation springs immediately to mind: it's about time.
Zhenya Strigalev and Federico Dannemann: The Change
by Roger Farbey
Zhenya Strigalev and Federico Danneman previously recorded together on Strigalev's Blues For Maggie (Whirlwind, 2018), but with the possible exception of that album's penultimate track ,"Little Struggle," the fare offered there differed a little from what's on offer here. The Change unequivocally oozes rock-infused take-no-prisoners jazz. Perhaps the nearest comparison to this band, and this is ...
Frank Kimbrough: Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk
by Angelo Leonardi
Fino a che punto può spingersi la rilettura del songbook monkiano senza alterare l'estetica e la profondità emotiva del suo autore? Le rivisitazioni degli ultimi decenni hanno privilegiato l'esaltazione dei suoi tratti asimmetrici (le melodie sghembe, i conflitti ritmici, le armonie dissonanti) usando quei brani come pretesto per esplorazioni d'avanguardia. Quando si è usato quel repertorio ...
Gianluigi Trovesi, Gianni Coscia: La misteriosa musica della Regina Loana
by Alberto Bazzurro
A trent'anni più o meno esatti dal concerto che ne decretò la nascita (Tortona, 18 luglio 1989), il duo Trovesi/Coscia pubblica quello che è (solo) il suo album n. 5 (di cui quattro, dopo l'iniziale Radici, edito da Egea, su etichetta ECM) e lo fa nel nome di Umberto Eco, di cui Gianni Coscia fu amico ...
Julie Sassoon, Willi Kellers: Waves
by John Eyles
Although pianist Julie Sassoon's first recording—the trio Azilut!'s To the Power of Three (Babel)—was released in 2001, the intervening years have not seen a stream of albums from her; in fact, her releases to date can be counted on two hands. However, in Sassoon's case quantity is far less important than the variety and quality of ...
Chris Connor with Stan Kenton And His Orchestra: Connor Sings — Kenton Swings
by Jack Bowers
However listeners may receive this “new" album from Sounds of Yesteryear, there's no gainsaying its title, Connor Sings—Kenton Swings, as that secures its contents in a neat little box with no loose ends in sight. There's also no denying that these seventeen songs by vocalist Chris Connor and the dynamic Stan Kenton Orchestra were recorded more ...
Daryl Runswick / Tony Hymas: Runswick Hymas Big Bands 1974-78
by Roger Farbey
British bassist, composer and conductor Daryl Runswick was born in 1946 and in 2019 is retired. His archival recordings have had something of a renaissance, at least as far as CD releases are concerned. Following in the wake of 2017's double album of previously unreleased tracks entitled Daryl Runswick: The Jazz Years and 2018's live quartet ...
Nick DePinna: Nexus Music Vol. 1
by Jack Bowers
Los Angeles-based composer-trombonist Nick DePinna dips his toes warily into the big-band pond on Nexus Music Vol. 1, a concise yet largely impressive glimpse at contemporary motifs from a large-group perspective. The album encompasses only three songs whose total playing time is a brief twenty minutes, about one-quarter the maximum length of a Compact Disc.
Maureen Choi Quartet: Theia
by Geno Thackara
It is appropriate that Maureen Choi's career has included extensive teaching stints in New York City and her newer home base, Madrid. Both have a rich musical history bridging the body-moving and the cerebral. The Choi quartet honors both on their third outing Theia; it's a work overflowing with smarts which never forgets to aim for ...
Marc Jufer Trio: Trip To The Center
by Jerome Wilson
Marc Jufer is a Swiss saxophonist who has worked in a variety of formats. Here he leads a trio with a fire-breathing rhythm section of bassist Lisa Hoppe and drummer Devin Gray. Without a piano or other harmony instrument to support him, Jufer's sax playing comes off slinky and malleable. He subtly threads his ...
