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Benjamin Taubkin: Al Qantara/The Bridge
by Dan Bilawsky
Music, by its nature, is about building bridges. When it's broken down to its very essence, it's all about forming connections between sounds and souls. That idea, in expanded and magnified form, is the core principle behind Al Qantara/The Bridge. Here, music takes on additional responsibilities, serving as a bridge between styles, syntax, and cultures; it ...
Florencia Gonzalez: Between Loves
by Dan Bilawsky
Uruguay-born, New York-based tenor saxophonist Florencia Gonzalez wrote the material that appears on this album during her first years in the United States. That time period found her focusing on narrowing geographical and artistic divides, creating music that exists between worlds. Gonzalez's debut album--Woman Dreaming Of Escape (Self Produced, 2012)--found her working out her ...
Manuel Valera: Self Portrait
by Dan Bilawsky
Pianist Manuel Valera's New Cuban Express has pulled into the station for a pit stop, his band mates have stepped off the train to stretch their legs, and the conductor of said locomotive is now left to ponder his own existence in front of his controls. Such is the story that could be told to detail ...
Roy Assaf Trio: Second Row Behind The Painter
by Dan Bilawsky
Pianist Roy Assaf decided to try a different studio tactic when he set out to make this record. Instead of simply having his trio take multiple passes at tracks on a single predetermined playlist, he decided to have the group simulate a stay at a club. They recorded multiple sets, accumulating almost five hours worth of ...
Jeff Cosgrove: Alternating Current
by Dan Bilawsky
The recipe for this album could be detailed as such: start with one inventive drummer, add two interconnected masters of wholly improvised music, throw a composition from Paul Motian into the pot, and let it all stir itself. Drummer Jeff Cosgrove's fascination with the music of Motian isn't a secret. As the man ...
David Weiss: When Words Fail
by Dan Bilawsky
"Where words fail, music speaks." Jana Herzen, head of Motema Music, shared this Hans Christian Anderson quote with David Weiss after the trumpeter had already titled his new record; the sentiment of that statement just happens to perfectly connect with this album. In 2013, loss seemed to hover around Weiss, his friends, and ...
Peter Epstein Quartet: Polarities
by Dan Bilawsky
Polarity, depending on the usage of the word, can reference opposites, the carrying of positive and negative charges, or attraction to a specific point, object, or idea; saxophonist Peter Epstein's Polarities deals with all of that. Epstein, a notable player on the New York scene in the '90s, has kept a lower profile ...
Furthering The Flute In Jazz: Holly Hofmann and Bill McBirnie
by Dan Bilawsky
Long gone are the days when the flute was only seen as a jazz novelty or a saxophonist's double. Once upon a time you could count the number of notable jazz flautists on a hand (or two), but the ranks have swelled a little bit over the years, and those leading the charge today aren't content ...
Brenda Earle Stokes: Right About Now
by Dan Bilawsky
Is Brenda Earle Stokes primarily a vocalist, a composer, or a pianist? That's an unanswerable question if ever there was one. The marketplace typically forces artists to list their chief credential first, making it easier to categorize and pigeonhole them, but that's a problem for Stokes; she's equally talented in all three areas, as demonstrated throughout ...
Sonny Rollins: Road Shows, Vol. 3
by Dan Bilawsky
Look beyond harmony, go past technique, and pay no mind to personality. When you do all of that, Sonny Rollins still remains one of the greatest improvisers to ever wield an instrument. And why is that? The answer is simple: Rollins is forever in a state of becoming. He's the rare player who doesn't play towards ...
