Home » Search Center » Results: Alexander M. Stern
Results for "Alexander M. Stern"
Elvis Costello: North
by Alexander M. Stern
A long time ago – it seems like a lifetime – Elvis Costello glared out at the listener from the cover of This Year’s Model as the voice emanating from the speaker snarled words of revenge and guilt: “Don’t say you love me when it’s just a rumor/Don’t say a word if there is any doubt/Sometimes ...
Reuben Hoch and the Chassidic Jazz Project: Live at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
by Alexander M. Stern
There is no doubt that Jews have contributed as much to the evolution of jazz as any ethnic group. A short list of great Jewish jazz musicians would include Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, and Paul Desmond. Jews have made some great contributions to jazz in other ways as well. Blue ...
Van Morrison: What's Wrong With This Picture?
by Alexander M. Stern
Van Morrison has always been difficult to categorize. He straddles a line between Hank Williams, Sr. and William Blake; between W. B. Yeats and Muddy Waters. He’s Ireland’s rock and roll saint; a genuine rhythm and blues Rimbaud. He’s Jack Kerouac on the road to Belfast. Looking back on Morrison’s long and storied ...
Miroslav Vitous: Universal Syncopations
by Alexander M. Stern
Not just an album, Universal Syncopations --bassist Miroslav Vitous's latest release on ECM, and his first as a leader in more than ten years--is nothing short of an event. With a stellar line-up consisting of living legends Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, John McLaughlin, and Jan Garbarek, Universal Syncopations is more than merely the sum of some ...
Ralph Peterson Quintet: Tests of Time
by Alexander M. Stern
Not for nothing does Criss Cross have a reputation for being the present day equivalent of Blue Note Records during its heyday in the '50s and '60s. A blindfolded listener could easily be forgiven for mistaking a 2003 Criss Cross album for the work of Hank Mobley, Jimmy Smith, or Grant Green. That may sound worse ...
Dawn Clement: Hush
by Alexander M. Stern
Despite the groans of many contemporary jazz listeners, I happen to believe that we’re living in a particularly exciting period for jazz. There is a truly mind-boggling array of talent out there, both known and unknown, and it’s a great joy to listen to it grow and expand. The early 21st century might well go down ...
Joe Chambers: Urban Grooves
by Alexander M. Stern
What can one say about the redoubtable Joe Chambers? An adventurous drummer with an eternally questioning spirit, he has certainly played with his share of the greats. Yet Chambers hasn’t received the same accolades as contemporaries like Elvin Jones or Tony Williams. It certainly isn’t for lack of talent or technical ability. The problem, perhaps, has ...
Francois Carrier Trio with Uri Caine: All' Alba
by Alexander M. Stern
French Canadian alto saxophonist Francois Carrier has made a career out of being unpredictable. All' Alba, his latest CD, is yet another pleasant surprise. The surprise here, however, is not Carrier's melodic inventiveness, nor is it bassist Pierre Cote and drummer Michel Lambert's highly sympathetic vibrations. In this case, the surprise is the welcome addition of ...
A Conversation with Brian Patneaude
by Alexander M. Stern
New York's Capital District--the collective sobriquet for Albany, Schenectady, and Troy as well as Saratoga and a few outlying areas--has produced two major names in jazz: Baritone saxophonist Nick Brignola and vibraphonist and Blue Note recording artist Stefon Harris. Indeed, right up until his recent death, Brignola was Upstate New York's greatest contribution to modern jazz. ...
Heart of Darkness: Sonny Clark Remembers April
by Alexander M. Stern
Pianist Sonny Clark was a consummate hard-bopper who made only a handful of recordings as a leader, but appears on literally dozens of albums as a sideman. His impressive list of credits includes sessions with Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Billie Holiday, Grant Green, Stanley Turrentine, Lee Morgan, and Jackie McLean. His style was largely informed by ...
