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The Susan Krebs Band: Everything Must Change
by Jack Bowers
Appraising a jazz singer, male or female, is never easy; there are so many variables to consider. First, of course, is the voice, which must be lucid and pleasing to the ears. Respect for a lyric is important, as is articulation, which is bound closely to emotion; too little can be seen as tedious, too much ...
Melissa James: Day Dawns
by Bruce Lindsay
It's obvious to even a casual observer of Britain's jazz scene that there is a resurgence in the art of the song and the craft of the vocalist. Singer/songwriter Melissa James is set to be one of the finest of this new breed: her unique approach to her craft is immediately apparent on Day Dawns, a ...
Philippe Baden Powell: Piano Masters Series, Volume 2
by Dan Bilawsky
Philippe Baden Powell's first solo piano date (and second record as a leader) is the second volume in Adventure Music's Piano Masters Series. The label sought to realize “the dream of the intimate experience of solo piano music between artist and audience" by putting fine pianists in a room with a high-end Fazioli Concert Grand Piano ...
Kay Grant / Alex Ward: Fast Talk
by Raul d'Gama Rose
It is not often that the human voice is pitted against another human voice expressed through the vibrations of a moist and well-shaven reed of any instrument that has one, let alone a clarinet, which is made of seasoned wood and has the ability of being made to cry and wail just as naturally as another ...
John Butcher / Mark Sanders: Daylight
by Raul d'Gama Rose
There is a visceral energy that drives the music on Daylight and all of this has to do with the wonderful musicality of saxophonist John Butcher and drummer Mark Sanders. From the sense of moist breath that courses through Butcher's horn--as interspersed with breathy growls, guttural smears and sensational squeaks and wails, depending on the emotional ...
Eric Alexander / Vincent Herring: Friendly Fire
by Jack Bowers
For those who long for the time when hard bop reigned supreme, Blue Note and Prestige Records were riding high, and no-holds-barred saxophone cutting contests and unscripted jam sessions were the order of the day, here's a sure cure for any lament that those days are lost and gone forever. From the opening notes of Friendly ...
Marc Copland: Some More Love Songs
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Marc Copland--who, oddly, began his jazz career as a saxophonist--took an artistic leap forward with his three New York Trio recordings on Pirouet Records. Employing a rotating crew of bassists with Gary Peacock, Drew Gress, and drummers Paul Motian and Bill Stewart, the pianist rose to a higher profile via his nearly unsurpassed musical excellence. ...
Sylvain Rifflet: Alphabet
by Eyal Hareuveni
There is no suitable title for French composer/reed player Sylvain Rifflet's uartet other than Alphabet, a name that begins to describe the rich contemporary language of this unique quartet. Rifflet mixes influences, from Tom Waits' use of junk percussive instruments and Captain Beefheart's anarchistic sound collages to the sound designs of film composer Cliff Martinez (known ...
The Black Butterflies: Rainbows for Ramon
by Karl Ackermann
When she was scarcely into her twenties, self-taught saxophonist Mercedes Figueras recorded Elefante (Self Produced, 2007) a duo recording with drummer Martin Visconte. From this initial effort, it was clear that Figueras is as fearless as she is creative. She neither tames her instrument nor lets it run wild and in the process has invented a ...
Veryan Weston / Ingrid Laubrock / Hannah Marshall: Haste
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Veryan Weston is one of the most creative musicians in recent times--or, perhaps, ancient times would be closer to the truth, for what is new emanates from the old and what is old gives birth to the new. Weston presides over this conundrum like a medieval apothecary concocting brilliant and powerful and magical potions that take ...
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