Home » Search Center » Results: Criss Cross
Results for "Criss Cross"
Wycliffe Gordon: Cone's Coup

by George Kanzler
Back in June, Wycliffe Gordon was awarded the Jazz Journalist Association's Trombonist of the Year honors. Cone's Coup is a good showcase of the artistry that helped him win that award. Gordon's approach to the trombone is like Sonny Rollins' on the tenor sax: a complete mastery of techniques through the entire range, with attention paid ...
David Binney: Cities and Desire

by Jerry D'Souza
David Binney turns the impressions of various cities that he has cast in his mind's eye into thirteen tunes that showcase nine cities, with four of them getting an Intro. Binney frames his vision on Cities and Desire with a broad and focussed view, both as a composer and as a player. His playing captures the ...
David Kikoski Quartet: Limits

by John Kelman
Limits may seem like an odd title for this disc, an unassuming but thoroughly captivating quartet session that reunites pianist David Kikoski with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Bill Stewart from his 2004 Criss Cross release, Details; it also brings back tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake from earlier Criss Cross discs, including 2002's Combinations. But while this ...
Wycliffe Gordon: Cone's Coup

by Alain Londes
Few musicians focus on the trombone at an early age and maintain a certain sense of individuality as they mature professionally. Wycliffe Cone Gordon is one of those serious trombonists, having had his interest piqued at the age of twelve, following his brother. Examples of other contemporaries would include Slide Hampton, Robin Eubanks and Steve Turre. ...
David Binney: Cities and Desire

by John Kelman
It's no surprise that altoist David Binney could come up with a record as evocative as Cities and Desire, but it is surprising that he could come up with it in a single-day session. Like last year's Criss Cross disc Bastion of Sanity, his new album is more of a flat-out blowing session than his other ...
Joe Magnarelli: Hoop Dreams

by David A. Orthmann
Over the past dozen years trumpeter Joe Magnarelli has gradually transformed a bebop-derived vocabulary into a highly personal style. Utilizing a full-bodied tone that never turns strident, Magnarelli invites the listener to focus on the substantive dimensions of his playing, rather than drawing attention to technique, velocity and influences. Beautifully crafted melodies spring from his horn ...
Jimmy Greene: True Life Stories

by C. Andrew Hovan
Jimmy Greene came into many advantageous and heady situations early on in his career, and he has really begun to find himself as an artist within the past few years. Now in his early thirties, Greene had made a total of three previous albums as a leader, and while they demonstrated his promise, they also hinted ...
Wycliffe Gordon: Cone's Coup

by C. Andrew Hovan
Of all the musicians who have come through Wynton Marsalis' various ensembles, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon is one of the few who has made the most of his experience while developing an individualistic voice. Although you can hear the history of the music from Dixie to avant garde in his approach, he's been able to successfully channel ...
Danny Grissett: Promise

by C. Andrew Hovan
The jazz piano trio format has its share of plaudits and pitfalls. One the one hand, it has immense possibilities in terms of orchestration and rhythm. But on the other hand, it's all too easy for the music to turn into background wallpaper for the local cocktail lounge. As such, it's a risky decision to make ...
Steve Davis: Update

by C. Andrew Hovan
For many years now, Steve Davis has been the torchbearer for an instrument that is often neglected among today's younger musicians. Often associated with swing and Dixieland styles, the trombone is no less a communicative voice for creative jazz expression than any other brass or woodwind instrument. Capable of using the 'bone as the sole lead ...