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Jay Anderson: Deepscape
by Dan Bilawsky
Bassist Jay Anderson has long been the rock to locks things in place and the harmonic tether to hold it all together. He appears on more than 400 albums, having served as the anchor for everybody from Lynne Arriale to Frank Zappa, and he's one of the most steady and dependable low-end quantities on the scene. ...
Chris Welcome: Beyond All Things
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist Stephen Gauci has begun to document some of the weekly concerts he curates at the Bushwick Public House in Brooklyn, New York. Although brief, this session of a single, 29-minute track packs a satisfying punch to the solar plexus. Led by guitarist Chris Welcome (of the Lisa Mezzacappa Trio, David McDonnell Group and Weasel Walter), ...
Danielle Friedman: School of Fish
by Mike Jurkovic
It's taken a while to review School of Fish, the very engaging debut by pianist Danielle Friedman because it's so easy to get carried away by the imaginative leaps and bounds she and her trio take in pursuit of her musical wanderlust. So you listen. Then listen again. And again. Written entirely by the ...
Bad Luck: Four
by Ian Gwin
For over a decade, Seattle-based duo Bad Luck—that's Neil Welch (saxophones, electronics) and Chris Icasiano (drums)—have packed and unpacked their deceptively simple formula of drums and saxophone. Through their deep musical partnership, they continue to recast the mold of contemporary music. Over countless fiery performances and three full-length releases, the depth of the duo's compositional improvisations ...
Steve Haines: And the Third Floor Orchestra
by Jack Bowers
This is by and large lovely music, to be sure, but to paraphrase a Burger King ad from years gone by, “Where's the jazz?" Aside from a handful of perfunctory solos by soprano saxophonist Chad Eby and pianist Joey Calderazzo, there isn't much here. Instead, composer / arranger Steve Haines and the Third Floor Orchestra canvass ...
Ran Blake / Claire Ritter: Eclipse Orange
by Jerome Wilson
Pianist Claire Ritter is one of the countless musicians out there who deserve more recognition. A former student of Ran Blake's, she has forged her own path as a composer and educator. This CD presents a 2017 concert she gave with Blake, in North Carolina, for Thelonious Monk's 100th birthday. The program features compositions by Ritter, ...
Scopes: Scopes
by Roger Farbey
Formed in 2018, Scopes comprises a group of musicians hailing from four different European countries, led by Austrian drummer Mathias Ruppnig and German bassist Tom Berkmann. Coincidentally, both leaders have collaborated with Kurt Rosenwinkel and John Hollenbeck. Ruppnig studied or participated in workshops with big jazz names including Kendrick Scott, Peter Erskine, Jimmy Cobb, John Abercrombie, ...
Club d'Elf: Night Sparkles
by Karl Ackermann
For the Boston, Massachusetts-based Club d'Elf, the boundaries are long gone; they may never have been there to start with. Almost twenty years ago, the group debuted with Live at The Lizard Lounge (Grapeshot Media, 2000), an amalgam of jazz, electronica, hip hop, and funk. At times, the group (always a fluid entity) has included accordion, ...
AACM Great Black Music Ensemble: Live at The Currency Exchange, Volume 1
by Mark Corroto
A Power Stronger Than Itself (The University of Chicago press) is the title of George Lewis' history of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). Published in 2008, its 676 pages tell the story of the first 43 years of the Chicago South Side collective that gave birth to musicians like Henry Threadgill, Wadada ...
Izumi Kimura, Barry Guy, Gerry Hemingway: Illuminated Silence
by Ian Patterson
Although Illuminated Silence is nominally billed as a trio of equals—and, musically speaking, it is just that—it was Japanese pianist Izumi Kimura's lead that brought long-standing musical collaborators Barry Guy and Gerry Hemingway together in Dublin for this live date at St. Ann's Church. Kimura is well known in Ireland—her home for over twenty years—as a ...
