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InterStatic: Arise
by John Kelman
Its beginnings may have been a little closer to the jazz side of the jazz-rock equation with Anthem (PVY Records, 2011), but British expat keyboardist Roy Powell's and trio with Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young and drummer Jarle Vespestad has, since changing its moniker to InterStatic with the release of its first album on UK's RareNoiseRecords label, ...
Rotem Sivan: For Emotional Use Only
by Dan Bilawsky
A large number of younger jazz guitarists tend to turn their albums into shock and awe campaigns, with aggression, overwhelming force, cutting tones, and electronic gadgets galore firing down on listeners. The work of guitarist Rotem Silvan is a refreshing alternative to that heavy artillery school of guitar. On his debut--Enchanted Sun (Steeplechase ...
Bobby Broom: My Shining Hour
by Jack Bowers
Chicago-based guitarist Bobby Broom's Shining Hour encompasses nearly an hour of Sweet and Lovely" trio jazz, showcasing seven memorable tunes from the Great American Songbook complemented by pair of three-steps, Fats Waller's Jitterbug Waltz" and the Patti Page evergreen, Tennessee Waltz." Besides the songs mentioned above, Broom's working trio (bassist Dennis Carroll, drummer ...
Alexander Hawkins Ensemble: Alexander Hawkins: Step Wide, Step Deep
by John Sharpe
You don't need to spend long in the company of pianist Alexander Hawkins to realize that his encyclopedic knowledge of jazz encompasses everything from Duke Ellington to the avant-garde. That's as true of recordings as it is in person, and amply demonstrated on Step Wide, Step Deep, where the moods range from lazy Sunday afternoon to ...
Tarek Yamani: Lisan Al Tarab
by Hrayr Attarian
Pianist Tarek Yamani's second release Lisãn Al Tarab is a sublime and innovative exploration of the common ground between Jazz and Arabic musical heritage. The title loosely translates as Language of the Music" although there is no equivalent word to tarab in English. Tarab is the unique concept of music fused with its ecstatic, emotional impact, ...
Louis Sclavis Quartet: Silk and Salt Melodies
by Karl Ackermann
With its ancient roots and latter-day association with New Orleans, Dixieland and swing, the clarinet isn't often a frontline instrument in modern jazz let alone avant-garde. A handful of players such as Don Byron and Marty Ehrlich have aided in its prominence but not many. In the hands of Louis Sclavis the bass clarinet is not ...
The Cookers: Time And Time Again
by Dan Bilawsky
The very idea of The Cookers is something of a pleasing paradox. It's a band that's populated by some of the most impressive and seasoned veterans out there, but it plays like an anti-super group; it's a real deal band, not a big payday or business venture, and nobody's phoning it in, grandstanding, or letting any ...
Albert Ayler: Spiritual Unity
by Mark Corroto
Fifty years after the recording of Albert Ayler's Spiritual Unity, the music (and the man) are still causing tumult. It is not so much that free jazz hasn't been on our radar these past decades, it's just that this recording remains one of those where were you, when you first heard it?" experiences. Recorded ...
Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble: Intergalactic Beings
by John Sharpe
Intergalactic Beings forms the second chapter in flutist Nicole Mitchell's science fiction derived discographical strand. Like the first, Xenogenesis Suite (Firehouse 12, 2008), it showcases Mitchell the composer, again drawing her inspiration from the Afrofuturist novels of Octavia Butler, in which survivors of nuclear holocaust are plucked from earth by aliens who believe that interbreeding is ...
Spiral Mercury - Chicago/Sao Paulo Underground featuring Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah & The Underground
by Glenn Astarita
Renowned tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and new music, jazz-centric pioneer, cornetist Rob Mazurek bridge alternate generations of avant-gard-isms with this highly persuasive and indubitably, audacious production. It's an electro-acoustic meeting of futuristic minds, intersecting the trumpeter's Sao Paulo Underground and Chicago Underground ensembles. Moreover, they yield intergalactic nods to classic space rock via Guilherme Granado's inventive ...

