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Lena Bloch: Heart Knows
by Hrayr Attarian
Tenor saxophonist Lena Bloch has a cool, cerebral style and a definite and captivating lyricism. Her second release Heart Knows demonstrates this quite well. In addition, Bloch showcases her inventive compositional skills as she contributes four intriguing originals to the album. One of Bloch's mentors, multi-reed player Yusef Lateef inspired the poetic and multilayered ...
Cuar: Roscanna
by Ian Patterson
Roscanna is the debut of Cuar, a trio led by composer and bassist/flutist Neil Ó Loclainn that adopts a chamber-esque approach to Irish folk music, though one that is open to quite disparate influences. A regular collaborator with the late Louis Stewart as well as in David Lyttle's trios, Ó Loclainn is an adept in both ...
Max Zenger: Chapter 2
by Troy Dostert
Finnish saxophonist/bass clarinetist Max Zenger's quartet, the Maxxxtet, shows on its sophomore release that there's a lot of room in modern jazz for an approach that puts harmony, intricate concepts and subtle rhythmic nuances ahead of passionate intensity and technical brilliance. This is not to say that the group lacks chops or ambition--but that these traits ...
Cortex: Avant-Garde Party Music
by John Sharpe
Why change a winning formula? If Norwegian crew Cortex has considered that question, then the response was likely an unconcerned shrug. Studio session Avant-Garde Party Music continues firmly in the winning vein established by Clean Feed predecessors Live! (2014) and Live In New York (2016), mashing 1960s New Thing tropes with contemporary inside/outside soloing. Trumpeter Thomas ...
Albert Castiglia: Up All Night
by Doug Collette
Make no mistake, the ambiguity in the title of bluesman guitarist/composer Albert Castilglia's seventh album, Up All Night, is a positive attribute. Because as much as he trades in the tried and true of the blues, as on the rough-and-tumble, “Hoodoo On Me," he manages to imprint a personal stamp on what he does.On ...
Hart, Scone & Albin: Leading The British Invasion
by Dan McClenaghan
The Hammond organ trio called Hart, Scone & Albin open up Leading the British Invasion by biting into “Rehab," from the songbook of the late British vocalist, Amy Winehouse. The tune--already dripping soul in its original edition--drips some, with the trio's muscular and propulsive approach. The British Invasion the trio addresses throughout the set ...
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh/Garth Knox: All Soundings Are True
by Ian Patterson
Unlike notated music, where one wrongly sounded note can jar terribly, improvised music obeys no stringent laws. It can jar but it's never wrong. Indeed, the concept of what constitutes music--our appreciation or tolerance for some sounds but not others--is frequently challenged by improvisers, for whom all sounds are valid. Fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (This Is ...
David S. Ware Trio: Live in New York, 2010
by Jakob Baekgaard
One night on earth David S. Ware was here. Blowing at the Blue Note on October 4, 2010, but it could have been October 4, 2090. Years ahead of his time or perhaps just outside of it, he took his alto saxophone and played. Fully formed compositions never named, but caught eternally on tape.
Andrew Linham: Weapons Of Mass Distraction
by Bruce Lindsay
Composer, saxophonist and bandleader Andrew Linham debuts his 17-piece Jazz Orchestra on Weapons Of Mass Distraction. “Jazz Orchestra" can be a warning sign of po-faced and serious “art" up ahead, but no such worries here. This is a Big Band in the best, big sound, big fun, sense of the phrase, performing 11 of Linham's compositions ...
Hart, Scone & Albin: Leading The British Invasion
by Dan Bilawsky
The British are coming, the British are coming! No, not the Redcoats with rifles or tide-shifting rock royalty like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and the like. This time, it's the might and music of the English songstress that's landing stateside. With Leading The British Invasion, this smart and stinging organ trio salutes ...
