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Roberto Magris: Love Is Passing Thru
by Dan McClenaghan
Italian pianist Roberto Magris started his jazz journey on his home turf, notably with a trio of albums on the Soul Note label: Check-In (2005), Il Bello del Jazz (2006) and Current Views (2009). But his profile rose substantially when he got involved with JMood Records, beginning with Kansas City Outbound (2008). He offered his masterpiece ...
Dave Solazzo: Locrian Skye
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Dave Solazzo and The Bridge--a trio that includes drummer Bill D'Augustino and bassist Matthew Vacanti--may be better known in the jazz world as accomplished sidemen, but they came together in 2023 to record Locrian Skye, with the pianist serving as the leader. In some ways, the music recalls the standard jazz piano trio mode--the music ...
John Esposito: Blues For Outlaw Hearts
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist John Esposito, the head honcho at Sunjump Records, has made part of his life's mission to feature underappreciated musicians. Guitarist Sangeeta Michael Berardi, who passed in 2024, was one of them. Berardi owed a big debt to saxophonist John Coltrane. This can be heard--leaving no doubt--on his Sunjump outing Earthship, released in 2008. In the ...
Samo Salamon: Dances Of Freedom
by Dan McClenaghan
Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon released a top-ten-of-the-year masterpiece CD in 2022, Dolphyolgy: Complete Eric Dolphy For Solo Guitar (Samo Records). On this tribute to the late reedman who was always an unconventional, free-flying artist, Salamon examined every composition in the Dolphy songbook. Dolphy for guitar was a surprise and certainly must have been a challenge. Salamon ...
David Friesen: This Light Has No Darkness, Volume 1
by Dan McClenaghan
In 2020, David Friesen, an American jazz artist with Ukrainian roots, released his masterpiece, Testimony (Origin Records). The set was an orchestral, spiritual soundscape featuring Friesen's jazz quartet and the National Academic Symphonic Band of Ukraine. Recorded in Kyiv, in December of 2018--about three years before Russia invaded Ukraine--the music was a majestic testament to Friesen's ...
Will Regnier: Traces
by Dan McClenaghan
Montreal-based drummer & composer Will Regnier's recording debut, Traces, paints an atmospheric soundscape. It could be a score for a science fiction Western movie, the accompaniment for scenes of a rider under an alien lavender sky, his mount a sturdy quadruped species, neither equine nor bovine, but something different. Low vegetation rises in prickly clumps in ...
Bob James: Jazz Hands
by Dan McClenaghan
Let us groove into a H.G. Wells mode and ride a time machine back to 1979 and revisit One On One (Tappan Zee), pianist Bob James' collaboration with guitarist Earl Klugh. The disc won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. It was a polished production, full of catchy rhythms and bright, memorable melodies--music that ...
Jim Snidero: For All We Know
by Dan McClenaghan
The cover photo on Jim Snidero's For All We Know features the saxophonist holding his horn out in front of his body as if he is offering it to us as a holy relic. Holy it is when he plays it; a relic it is not. The album is Snidero's first recorded offering in ...
Thriving Jazz Orchestras: 2024
by Dan McClenaghan
Jazz orchestras may not make much sense financially in 2024. They are most likely unaffordable as touring units. But in one-offs or the occasional studio efforts of established bands, some fine music can be found coming from the artistic minds of bold and adaptive composer/arrangers. Here are a pair of orchestral jazz outings that present modern ...
Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Jet Black
by Dan McClenaghan
The January 2024 release of Jet Black starts the year out right. It is the Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio's sophomore recording, presenting the Japanese pianist in one of her most compelling modes of expression: the piano trio. This is not foreign territory for her. She headed up a superb threesome with drummer Jim Black and bassist ...