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Amir ElSaffar: Crisis
by Karl Ackermann
Chicago area native, Amir ElSaffar has been working inside and outside the typical context of jazz since his Two Rivers Ensemble debut, Two Rivers (PI Recordings, 2007). The trumpeter and composer (and master santour player) has built a unique musical architecture based his study of the microtonal techniques of his ancestral Iraqi maqam. While ElSaffar was ...
Tianna Hall: Hit Me with a Hot Note
by C. Michael Bailey
With Texas Troubadour Jacqui Sutton splitting her time between Texas and parts West and taking on roll of Houston Jazz Mafia consigliere and Aussie reeds-mistress capo regime Alisha Pattillo staking out the Gulf, vocalist Tianna Hall remains as the undisputed Godmother of this Houston Jazz family. Hall has decided, in the hellish climes of the Texas ...
George Freeman/Chico Freeman: All In The Family
by Dan Bilawsky
There are few things more quintessentially Chicago" in jazz than the Freeman family. Tenor titan Von Freeman ruled the roost in The Windy City decade after decade until his death in 2012; his brother, George Freeman, played with everybody from saxophonist Charlie Parker to organist Shirley Scott; his other brother, the late Eldridge Bruz" Freeman, was ...
John Yao: Flip-Flop
by Karl Ackermann
On his 2012 debut, trombonist John Yao navigated multiple complex territories ranging from the experimental to traditional balladry. A regular presence on the New York scene, Yao has worked with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. Having absorbed those big band sensibilities, Yao graduates from his inaugural quintet to a seventeen-piece ensemble. ...
Brian Landrus Trio: The Deep Below
by Hrayr Attarian
With his sixth release as a leader The Deep Below, low reedman Brian Landrus continues to explore the bottom octaves of woodwind registers with his characteristic elegance and captivating charm. What sets this album apart from its predecessors is the sparseness of its setting. Backed only by bass and drums, Landrus places his various ...
Roberto Magris: Enigmatix
by Edward Blanco
Since launching his professional career in the late 70s, Italian Pianist and maestro Roberto Magris, has become an international recording artist documenting over 26 albums, performs throughout Europe and in the United States regularly and has garnished a reputation as a world-class musician by anyone's standard. Leading many groups over his long and distinguished career, from ...
Joel Harrison 5: Spirit House
by Troy Collins
Throughout his storied career, Washington DC-born guitarist Joel Harrison has demonstrated an interest in a wide range of musical styles. Since his leadership debut in the mid-1990s, Harrison has explored an array of genres, from pan-global collaborations with North Indian classical musicians to radical rearrangements of Appalachian folk tunes. Spirit House, the premiere of his most ...
Maciej Fortuna Acoustic Quartet: Jazz From Poland Vol. 1
by Karl Ackermann
Polish composer and trumpeter Maciej Fortuna--a law school graduate and a PhD of performing arts--distributes his time as a session musician, multiple group leader and lecturer at The Academy of Music in Poznan, Poland. Fortuna has been exploring the frontiers of jazz for some time with successful efforts in electronica, free improvisation, ethnic derivatives and acoustic ...
Angelo Hart: Intrepid
by Hrayr Attarian
What is most remarkable about pianist Angelo Hart's debut Intrepid is that it clearly demonstrates all of Hart's diverse influences without sounding derivative of any of them. In fact Hart has his own unique style, an uncommon trait for an artist so early in his career.Energetic percussive playing marks the title track that is ...
Charles Evans: On Beauty
by Budd Kopman
When uncompromising" is used to describe a musician, one of the first word that usually comes to mind is difficult," as in difficult to understand." The musician in question puts out music which dispenses with that which the mind uses to recognize patterns: rhythm, harmony and melody. Furthermore, music which eschews euphony is invariably called difficult." ...

