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Melissa Aldana: 12 Stars
by Chris May
Before we get into tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana's album--which is excellent, so hang on in there--a word about press releases and publicity campaigns. Specifically, those from Blue Note. The label's headquarters in Los Angeles is in danger of becoming known for award-winning b.s. in this regard, as demonstrated during the campaign for Aldana's label ...
Johan Lindvall Trio: This Is Not About You
by Chris May
If you ask a jazz fan to name the greatest piano trio albums ever made, the probability is that their top twenty choices will include Erroll Garner's Concert By The Sea (Columbia, 1955), Ahmad Jamal's But Not For Me (Argo, 1958), Bill Evans' Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961), Keith Jarrett's Standards Vol. 2 (ECM, ...
Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens: In Common III
by Chris May
The third iteration of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III and guitarist Matthew Stevens' In Common project is another delightfully lyrical and inventive affair. Each of the albums presents Smith and Stevens in the company of a different three-piece rhythm section. The first had vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Marcus Gilmore. The second had ...
Anthony Williams: Life Time & Spring Revisited
by Chris May
Drummer Tony Williams' first two albums as leader, recorded for Blue Note in 1964 and 1965--Life Time when he was only eighteen years old, Spring when he was nineteen--still sound delightfully fresh all these years after their original release. At the time he made them, Williams was a rising star with Miles Davis' second and third ...
The South African Jazz Real Book Vol. 1
by Chris May
The South African Jazz Real Book Vol. 1 Jannie van Tonder & George Werner 166 Pages ISBN: 978-0-620-93506-7 Jazz.co.za 2021 In an age when songwriters are routinely defrauded by music streaming platforms--by every thieving one of them--you might think that another real book would be as welcome as ...
Club D'Elf: You Never Know
by Chris May
Near-death experiences can reboot the mind, separating the important from the trivial. It seems to have worked like that for bassist and composer Mike Rivard, founder and leader of Boston's world-dub-jazz band Club D'Elf. A few years back, Rivard was nearly felled by a pulmonary embolism while seeking spiritual insight in the Amazonian rain forest. A ...
Marquis Hill: New Gospel Revisited
by Chris May
Chicago-born trumpeter Marquis Hill released his first album while still in college and in 2022, just over a decade later, he has retooled it on New Gospel Revisited, recorded live in his hometown with a fresh lineup and tweaked instrumentation. It is a terrific disc. Like his near contemporary and fellow trumpeter Christian ...
John Coltrane Quartet: Song Of Praise: New York 1965 Revisited
by Chris May
There are a handful of live performances which, preserved on recordings, have acquired overarching importance in the jazz canon. Charlie Parker's one-night-only appearance at Toronto's Massey Hall in 1953, John Coltrane's weeklong residency at New York's Village Vanguard in 1961 and Miles Davis' at Chicago's Plugged Nickel in 1965 are amongst the longest established.
James Kitchman: First Quartet
by Chris May
In the pen portrait of London-based guitarist James Kitchman which is included on the website of his record label, Ubuntu Music, Kitchman singles out the five jazz musicians who have most inspired his playing. Four of them are saxophonists John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins and guitarists John Scofield and Bill Frisell--titans all, frequently cited as influences ...
The Brodie West Quintet: Meadow Of Dreams
by Chris May
It may or may not be because of a recent series of programmes about Impressionist art on British television, combined with a passing knowledge of intoxicants, but for some reason the album title Meadow Of Dreams suggests one of Claude Monet's paintings of a field of poppies. As it happens, Monet's poppy paintings ...
