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Víkingur Ólafsson: Philip Glass – Piano Works
by C. Michael Bailey
Captain Obvious once said, “The appeal of Philip Glass' music is its simplicity." The minimalist school, which includes Glass, as well as La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich, produces music that uses limited or minimal musical materials, or as defined by composer Tom Johnson, as ..."any music that works with limited or minimal materials: ...
Erlend Apneseth: Ara
by Don Phipps
With the album Ara, Norwegian Hardanger fiddler Erlend Apneseth and his trio (drummer Øyvind Hegg-Lunde and guitarist Stephan Meidell) signal a folk music retelling of ancient stories that bring to mind Viking landscapes of ice and snow. Winter is coming -yet the music suggests this winter provides deep and breathtaking introspection amid icy drifts, snow-capped mountains, ...
Nu Band: Live In Geneva
by John Sharpe
Everything must change as the Nina Simone song puts it. That's as true in music as anywhere else, and changing one of the parts inevitably affects the whole. When NYC-based German trumpeter Thomas Heberer replaced the late lamented Roy Campbell in The Nu Band, it must have been heart-in-mouth time for colleagues bassist Joe Fonda, reedman ...
Afro-Cuban All Stars: Absolutely Live II
by Chris M. Slawecki
You can find many groups who call themselves “Afro-Cuban All Stars." But few have the pedigree of this ensemble led by vocalist Juan de Marcos, co-architect of the legendary Cuban roots Buena Vista Social Club sessions (1997, Nonesuch/Elektra) and dubbed by Downbeat as “the Quincy Jones of Cuban music." Marcos' first new music in six years ...
Charles Gayle/Giovani Barcella/Manolo Cabras: Live In Belgium
by Mark Corroto
Picking up any recording by the saxophonist (sometimes pianist) Charles Gayle always reminds me of the quote by actress Bette Davis' from the the film All About Eve (1950). After downing her martini in one gulp, Davis walks away, turns, and announces “fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride." Not bumpy as in ...
Justin Gray: New Horizons
by Dan McClenaghan
What's an artist to do if he can't find an established instrument to suit his musical needs. If you are bassist Justin Gray, you design and co-create one. It's called the Bass Veena, a a hybrid that combines the characteristics of the fretless bass and numerous Indian string instruments. New Horizons by Justin Gray ...
Audun Trio: Rondane
by Geno Thackara
Rondane is the kind of debut that sounds almost too accomplished and self-assured to be a debut. Its theme certainly doesn't hurt: the album is named after a Norwegian national park, and the picturesque quality can't help but enhance such an endeavor in anyone's hands. Credit where credit's due, though--this young trio sounds sharp and versatile ...
Elliott Sharp: Chansons Du Crepuscule
by Don Phipps
In Chansons Du Crepuscule, the French multi-genre vocalist, harpist, composer and improvisor Helene Breschand hooks up with the multi-genre New York guitarist Elliott Sharp to yield spell-binding music of the first order. This fascinating collaboration crosses musical genres as easily as a nuthatch jumps from a birch tree to a cedar and then to a hickory. ...
Michelle Coltrane: Awakening
by Dan Bilawsky
Yes, that Coltrane. Vocalist Michelle Coltrane, the offspring of pianist Alice McLeod (and vocalist Kenny Hagood) and the stepdaughter of saxophone icon John Coltrane, has one of the strongest musical pedigrees around. She was, quite literally, born and raised into musical legend. But her background and lineage hasn't put undue pressure on her development or musical ...
SLD Trio: Tensegridad
by John Sharpe
Out of Argentina comes splendid entry into the piano-trio stakes. The three young protagonists, pianist Paula Shocron, bassist Germán Lamonega and drummer Pablo Diaz loom large on the Buenos Aires' creative music scene and have already made connections in NYC, resulting in Emptying The Self (NendoDango Records, 2017) where William Parker takes over the bass chair. ...
