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Eric Olsen ReVision Quartet: Sea Changes
by Dan Bilawsky
Many classical-jazz crossover projects come off as half-baked exercises in compromise, uncomfortable in the attempt of marriage and painful to observe. This one doesn't. Pianist Eric Olsen put together a first-rate foursome--the aptly-named ReVision Quartet--to perform revamped takes on the music of Jean Sibelius, Frederic Chopin, Georges Bizet, and Olivier Messiaen, among others. His artful arrangements ...
Dr. Lonnie Smith: Evolution
by Dan Bilawsky
Artist repatriation seems to be something of a theme in the Don Was era of Blue Note Records. In 2013 there was the return of saxophonist Wayne Shorter, a jazz giant who delivered many of his landmark '60s albums on this storied imprint. Then, in 2015, Charles Lloyd left ECM for Blue Note, a label that ...
Jacob Varmus Septet: Aegean
by Dan Bilawsky
The existence of this album is firm proof that you never know just when or how a benefactor can come into view. Lifelong jazz fan Apostolos Georgopoulos was passing through upstate New York and he had the opportunity to spend a weekend with Connie Casey and Harold Varmus. Upon hearing some music at their home that ...
Scott DuBois: Winter Light
by Dan Bilawsky
The journey from morning to night, from the dark and promising wintry dawn to the gelid day's goodbye, is one fraught with possibility. At least that's how guitarist Scott DuBois sees it. On Winter Light, Dubois tells the story of a single frigid day. It's as wondrous, chilling, atmospheric, and powerful as can be.
Jon Davis: Changes Over Time
by Dan Bilawsky
While there are no liner notes to accompany pianist Jon Davis' third date for the Posi-Tone imprint, there's a quote inside the package, attributed to author Anne Rice, that gets to the heart of the matter: “None of us really changes over time. We only become more fully what we are." So is personal evolution and ...
Notable and Nearly Missed 2015
by C. Michael Bailey
John Petrucelli Quintet--The Way (Self Produced, 2014). New Jersey-native saxophonist John Petrucelli is an ambitious young man releasing his debut recording, The Way, as a two-CD set. The eleven selections presented are divided roughly in half, original compositions to standards. Petrucelli's quintet contains both a guitar and piano as harmony instruments, providing a fully-realized foundation for ...
Dave Wilson: There Was Never
by Dan Bilawsky
Saxophonist Dave Wilson cuts an imposing figure on the cover of There Was Never, his fourth album in total and his first on the Zoho Music imprint. There's intensity fixed on his face, with eyes closed in concentration and embouchure set for attack. And then there's his tenor saxophone. It has a larger than life presence ...
Chris Kelsey/Lewis Porter: Free: Kelsey/Porter Duo Plays Ornette, Vol. 1
by Dan Bilawsky
Intrepid saxophonist and recovering jazz journalist Chris Kelsey went to his longtime friend, renowned author-educator-pianist Dr. Lewis Porter, with the idea of recording some of Ornette Coleman's music. That's how Free came to be, plain and simple. But nothing is really that simple. Kelsey and Porter worked through this material for a year, allowing the music ...
Lori Bell: Brooklyn Dreaming
by Dan Bilawsky
No matter where we go, our formative experiences travel with us. That's what Lori Bell appears to say with Brooklyn Dreaming. For her ninth album, this California-based flutist decided to glance eastward, recalling time spent soaking in the sounds of New York City with her musical family in her youth. The result? A love letter that ...
Peter Erskine: Dr. Um
by Dan Bilawsky
It would appear that this project has awakened the Peter Erskine of yore, the drummer who became legend while cresting the waves of fusion with Weather Report and Steps Ahead. In recent years Erskine's drumming has been spare, elegant, open, and, in enough instances, lightly swinging. If one word would come to mind ...
