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GoGo Penguin: GoGo Penguin
by Geno Thackara
Calling GoGo Penguin a jazz group is sort of like calling Canada a big snowy place. Nobody would consider such a simple term adequate to describe the trio today, least of all the members themselves--bassist Nick Blacka explains that with album number five, GGP has “finally come to accept that we really just aren't a jazz ...
Joe Downard: Seven Japanese Tales
by Chris May
Up-and-coming London bassist Joe Downard's debut album is an ambitious affair which winningly blends intricate soundscapes created by retro-modern analog synthesisers with the two-horns-and-a-rhythm-section acoustic jazz tradition. Downard's sextet includes five other rising stars of the London scene, prominent among them trumpeter James Copus, tenor saxophonist Alex Hitchcock (whose self-titled album debut with his band AuB ...
Diane Schuur: Running on Faith
by C. Michael Bailey
Pianist and vocalist Diane “Deedles" Schuur and Wessell “Warmdaddy" Anderson may be the last jazz artists to have musically-anointed monikers, from a genre replete with them (Lester “Prez" Young, Billie “Lady Day" Holiday, Johnny “Rabbit" Hodges, Julian “Cannonball" Adderley and “John Birks “Dizzy" Gillespie). Schuur was named “Deedles" as a child by her mother. The name ...
Gergo Borlai: The Missing Song
by Jim Worsley
The Missing Song has been heralded as a tribute to Gergo Borlai's nine most influential drummers still alive and performing today. This is much more than just listing them and perhaps covering one of their songs. Borlai composed eight of the nine new songs on this album. He plays them all in the manner, or mindset, ...
Cory Smythe: Accelerate Every Voice
by Karl Ackermann
Pianist/electronics artist/composer Cory Smythe's Pyroclastic Records debut Circulate Susanna (2018) was a tongue-in-cheek attribution to the inspiration of a fictional event. He returns to the Kris Davis run label with the intriguing, socially-conscious and genre-less Accelerate Every Voice. Inspired by an assortment of sources: Andrew Hill's Lift Every Voice (Blue Note, 1970), the work of Harlem ...
Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio: Angels Around
by Mark Sullivan
Jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel's previous album Caipi (Heartcore Records, 2017) was unique in his discography. Not just original music—that was true of many of his previous records—but Brazilian influenced, and featuring his vocals. This set is a call back to the Kurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio's Reflections (WOMMUSIC, 2009): a selection of mostly modern jazz standards, played ...
Tim Berne and Nasheet Waits: The Coandă Effect
by Troy Dostert
Even by the customarily prolific standard he's set over the course of his career, 2020 is shaping up to be an especially accomplished year for saxophonist Tim Berne. His Fantastic Mrs. 10 (Intakt) offered another scintillating formulation of his well-established Snakeoil outfit, and his first solo album, Sacred Vowels (Screwgun), was also released. Sandwiched in between, ...
The Nighthawks: Tryin' To Get To You
by Doug Collette
With Tryin' To Get To You, their thirty-first album in a prolific near fifty-year career, the Nighthawks provide testament to their own longevity and that of the blues genre itself. Even regular turnover of personnel has not diminished the power and efficacy of this group's playing, perhaps because, as new members come and go, founding member ...
Anishana: Corners of the Sky
by Jack Bowers
What a pleasant surprise. When a group named Anishana records an album built around Native American themes and concepts, the inclination is to withhold judgment while preparing for the worst. Yes, Anishana is an Algonquin-derived term meaning “where do you come from?" And yes, Anishana loosely bases the music in Corners of the Sky on Native ...
Various Artists: Tales Of Wonder: A Jazz Celebration Of Stevie
by Kyle Simpler
There aren't many songwriters who have reached a level of success comparable to Stevie Wonder. He is one of the most important figures in American music, and to celebrate his 70th birthday, Posi-Tone records is releasing Tales of Wonder: A Jazz Celebration of Stevie. This compilation, performed by some of the label's excellent roster of musicians, ...
