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Results for "Dan Bilawsky"
Linda Sikhakhane: An Open Dialogue
by Dan Bilawsky
When tenor saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane released Two Sides, One Mirror (Skay Music, 2017), it was a statement of arrival, marking his ascendancy within the jazz ranks in his native South Africa, and departure, signaling a move to the United States that would result in studies with tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, trumpeter Charles Tolliver, bassist Reggie Workman ...
Mike Fahie Jazz Orchestra: Urban(e)
by Dan Bilawsky
There's a rocky history surrounding jazz-classical hybrids. But, in truth, that has little to do with any potential incompatibility. Instead, it's usually misguided maneuvering and/or an excessive show of dominant traits from one side or the other that mars said unions. When done right a wedding of those worlds can truly birth brilliance. Just listen to ...
Tom Barton: Wherever I Will Be
by Dan Bilawsky
Australian vocalist Tom Barton's “Wherever I Will Be," released as a standalone single in September of 2020, is, at its core, a meditation on life and loss. Extremely personal, revealing lyrics that recall “a beautiful and devastating conversation" that the singer had with his mother before her passing, it's a slow and somewhat intense offering that ...
Claire Daly: Rah! Rah!
by Dan Bilawsky
Ask a casual fan about Rahsaan Roland Kirk's impact and you're likely to receive a remark about multi-horn madness—a man wielding three at once, brazenly blowing the walls down. But Kirk, of course, was so much more than that enduring image. His writing, performing, spirit and humanity spoke to the ages, reaching out and grabbing ahold ...
Simon Moullier: Spirit Song
by Dan Bilawsky
Simon Moullier conjures elemental tides on this remarkably fluid and ear-catching debut. The French vibraphonist--a Berklee College of Music and Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz alumnus, now living in Brooklyn--offers a glowing attack, sweeping suggestions, worldly modernism and otherworldly light in these pieces recorded over the span of several sessions between 2017 and 2020.
Alfredo Balcacer: 9 Paredes
by Dan Bilawsky
If there's anything that can bind the artistic community in 2020, it's an understanding of isolation's impact. For guitarist Alfredo Balcacer, who was quarantining in his home city of Santo Domingo when COVID-19 closed everybody in, a sense of disorder and frustration, leavened by solace and acceptance, quickly became the norm. But rather than sit by ...
Chien Chien Lu: The Path
by Dan Bilawsky
For vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu, the path to jazz wasn't direct. She rode a contemporary classical percussion track into her twenties in her native Taiwan, but, as it turned out, that drive was less about reaching a destination than it was about the act of discovery: A growing desire for musical freedom and adventure eventually set ...
Kenny Washington: What's The Hurry
by Dan Bilawsky
Despite what many may think, there's no prescribed timeline for firsts and career milestones. Some artists decide to initially take the reins to record when they're 18. Others only get around to doing it when they're 80. The bottom line: The right time is the right time, and nobody should worry about getting there before they're ...
Maria Schneider: On Worlds Diverged
by Dan Bilawsky
We stand today at an intersection between two realities. On one side there's digital darkness--an underbelly of networked netherworlds, profiteers building fortunes on the collective back of musicians, sinister forces posing as corporate protagonists--and on the other, pure light given over through nature's gifts, a kindness and humanity that grace daily existence, and the beauty and ...
John Fedchock NY Sextet: Into The Shadows
by Dan Bilawsky
Trombonist John Fedchock's fluid slide work, celebrated composing chops and arranger's ingenuity have been put to good use in settings both large and very small in recent years, with a big band set and two live quartet records dropping between 2015 and the present. But rather than choose one of those ensemble formats over the other ...
