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Tyshawn Sorey, Marilyn Crispell: The Adornment of Time
by Giuseppe Segala
Se si focalizza l'attenzione sui duetti di pianoforte e batteria, balza subito alla mente il titanico Historic Concerts, che vide protagonisti Cecil Taylor e Max Roach nel dicembre del 1979, ormai più di quarant'anni fa. L'accento della musica era centrato sulla comune natura percussiva dei due strumenti, pur con tutte le differenze organologiche e tutte le ...
Stellari String Quartet: Vulcan
by John Eyles
Despite the years that have elapsed since Stellari String Quartet's first album, Gocce Stellari (Emanem, 2009), right from the opening notes of this follow-up, Vulcan, there is not a shadow of a doubt that it is by the same group, with the same members and ethos. The combination of Philipp Wachsmann's violin, Charlotte Hug's viola, Marcio ...
Tim Berne's Snakeoil: The Fantastic Mrs. 10
by Mark Corroto
Imagine Tim Berne as the lead in the 1980's' American television series The A-Team, declaring: “I love it when a plan comes together!" He must return to that catchphrase every time his ensemble Snakeoil finishes a recording. After four outings on Manfred Eicher's ECM Records, the previous being Incidentals (2017), he moves his A-Team to Intakt ...
Stan Kenton and His Orchestra: A Kenton Trilogy, Part 1: Dance Time
by Jack Bowers
Better late than never. Having already appraised Part 2 of Sounds of Yesteryear's three-part salute to the Stan Kenton Orchestra, it seemed only proper that the same should be done (albeit out of order) for Part 1 (and Part 3 as well, whenever it is released). Unlike Part 2, which is devoted to the artistry of ...
Matthew Shipp - Nate Wooley: What If?
by Karl Ackermann
Matthew Shipp and Nate Wooley have played together on two Ivo Perelman releases, Philosopher's Stone (Leo Records, 2017) and Strings 4 (Leo Records, 2019). Between those albums, Shipp contributed to the Wooley-produced New American Songbooks, Volume 2 (Pleasure of Text Records, 2018), a compilation of piano works that also included Kris Davis, Matt Mitchell and Aruán ...
Ross Hammond - Oliver Lake - Mike Pride: Our Place On The Wheel
by Mark Corroto
Let's make the blues great again. Like a certain political slogan from the 2016 election, the blues, like America, has always been great. Guitarist Ross Hammond's blues are also analogous to the American experience, with his diverse and heterogeneous perspective. His trio recording Our Place On The Wheel reflects this variegated approach. The 'great' part is ...
Susan Elliott: This Strange Season
by C. Michael Bailey
There are artists like Louise Van Aarsen who, with her 2012 Destiny (Self Produced), champion “grownup music," that is, music with traditional adult themes presented in a mainstream fashion. Add Susan Elliott to this group with her This Strange Season. Elliott is a member of the Houston Jazz Mafia, in spite of her decidedly non-jazz recording. ...
Carla Bley / Andy Sheppard / Steve Swallow: Life Goes On
by Karl Ackermann
Coming off a recent illness, the legendary composer-pianist Carla Bley has her sense of humor and political instincts intact on Life Goes On. The trio album with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bassist Steve Swallow completes a trilogy which began with Trios in 2013 but the three have been recording together since 1994 with their first album ...
The Saxophones: Eternity Bay
by Gareth Thompson
Alexi Erenkov started out as a jazz student, but turned to guitar-based songwriting in a bid for deeper self-expression. Put simply, he found this new approach more liberating than working on Big Band arrangements. Interesting, then, to recall that guitars were merely tolerated and rather buried in the rhythm section during Big Band's heyday, until the ...
Special Purpose: Password
by Geno Thackara
Special Purpose's upbeat jam-happy debut wastes no time establishing a setting and a mood. The group kicks off by crossing some 1970s Jeff Beck with a little Allman Brothers Band, and the ingredients for a fun jazz-rock fusion stew are already there: dreamy organ, bubbling bass, guitar that plays off the others without needing to go ...
