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The Ames Room: Bird Dies
by Glenn Astarita
Encompassed by the 48-minute marathon title track, the live performance captured on Bird Dies is irrefutably exhilarating. Featuring French alto saxophonist Jean Luc Guionnet's lead voice, The Ames Room embarks on a splintered approach to free-bop, propelled by drummer Will Guthrie's penetrating beats and bassist Clayton Thomas' pumping bottom. Perhaps the album title serves ...
John Leighton: Dramatic Life
by Dan Bilawsky
John Leighton's debut is a collection of poetic, pop-laced jazz that often downplays the pianist's own performance skills in favor of Anna Stott's easy-on-the-ears vocals and saxophonist Michael Buckley's engaging saxophone work. While Leighton's name rests high atop the cover of the album, he chooses to use his piano to serve the songs instead of himself, ...
Eddie Daniels / Roger Kellaway: Live at the Library of Congress
by Nic Jones
This is a wonderfully sympathetic duo. Pianist Roger Kellaway has an identity which brings together Ellis Larkins, Bill Evans and deep knowledge of jazz piano, whilst Eddie Daniels may be the most formidably correct clarinetist in jazz today, without ever letting technique get in the way of expression. Add to this duo's many ...
The Phil Norman Tentet: Encore
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Harkening back and reverently genuflecting to the mid-size ensemble format of the 1950s and '60s--especially those on the West Coast such as the Dave Pell Octet, Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool (Capitol 1957) band and other similar-sized ensembles-- the Phil Norman Tentet's Encore delivers the absolute best of all jazz worlds. This ...
Dan Wilensky: Back In The Mix
by Dan Bilawsky
Thirteen years separated the release of tenor saxophonist Dan Wilensky's first two albums-- And Then Some (Speechless, 1997) and If You Only Knew (Speechless, 2010)--but the saxophonist wasn't sitting around idly during that stretch of time. Wilensky's work as a session player, touring musician, author, and educator kept him beyond busy, yet his own music suffered ...
Slivovitz: Bani Ahead
by Dave Wayne
Slivovitz--also the generic name for a type of plum brandy popular throughout the Mediterranean--is a fascinating jazz-rock band that's been around for a decade or so. Bani Ahead, its second recording for the MoonJune label and third overall, is a charming blend of jazz and progressive rock with pronounced Balkan and circum-Mediterranean folk influences. Part of ...
Steve Coleman and Five Elements: The Mancy of Sound
by Ian Patterson
Although alto saxophonist Steve Coleman's conceptual approach to composition has grown increasingly adventurous, high-brow or esoteric, depending on your viewpoint--with lunar phases and the Yoruba of West Africa's philosophical system providing inspiration here--The Mancy of Sound merely represents Coleman's relationship to the world, which is the font of most music of worth. Retaining the same musicians ...
Nicole Mitchell: Awakening
by Nic Jones
This is could be called flautist Niicole Mitchell's first blowing date, although the rarefied nature of her music renders the term only loosely applicable. It's true that, in working with a quartet, she's created the right circumstances for music more reflective of the tradition to happen, but the results are no mere reiteration of a fading ...
Thad Jones: The Magnificent Thad Jones
by Greg Simmons
Trumpeter Thad Jones' greatest notoriety was as a member and leader of large ensembles, including the Count Basie Orchestra and later the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. But as great as his big band work was, it's a shame he didn't dedicate more time to small combos. He recorded a handful of really first-rate dates for Blue ...
Eddie Daniels / Roger Kellaway: Live At The Library Of Congress
by Dan Bilawsky
The Library Of Congress is a repository for important cultural artifacts, so it seems only fitting that it should serve as the stage for a duo recital from two of jazz's greatest treasures. Clarinetist Eddie Daniels and pianist Roger Kellaway have built their individual careers and reputations as genre-blind artists with near-unmatched technical prowess on their ...
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