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Aruán Ortiz Trio: Serranias: Sketchbook For Piano Trio
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Aruan Ortiz hails from Santiago de Cuba, but he has resided in the United States for two decades. Musically he is a first cousin to pianist Matthew Shipp with his approachable and often intense and avant-garde keyboard style; and he seems a stylistic grandson to Thelonious Monk with his joyful angularities and off-kilter interludes. But ...
Anat Fort Trio: The Berlin Sessions
by Dan McClenaghan
"They said nobody makes CDs anymore. So I made a DOUBLE CD with stuff I've never recorded. Ever." So says Israeli pianist Anat Fort. To borrow a term from the United States' 2016 presidential election, Fort “doubled down" on the “nobody makes CDs" thing. Bless her for that. That double CD is ...
Ally Fiola & The Next Quest: Interblaze
by Dan McClenaghan
Nova Scotian alto saxophonist Ally Fiola considers the themes of grief, wonder, fear and passion with her octet The Next Quest, on Interblaze. With a lot of low-end brass--baritone saxophone, trombone, sousaphone--the sound has a New Orleans brass band feel. It is also fun, celebratory music. The title tune and opening number sounds like a prance ...
Albert Vila: Levity
by Dan McClenaghan
Levity in these times usually refers to a state of humorousness or lightness of manner. From the liner notes of guitarist Albert Vila's Levity, however, we read that levity was originally thought to be a physical force, like gravity, but pulling in the opposite direction. But consider a word grown from the same root ...
Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations
by Dan McClenaghan
Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith fronts lots of different bands and puts out lots of albums. After a busy period when he released five boxed sets, totaling 27 CDs, here he debuts his new all-star ensemble Orange Wave Electric, with the download-only offering, Fire Illuminations. As the band name implies, the sound is electric, featuring three electric ...
David Ecker: Respite (Despite)
by Dan McClenaghan
The Covid pandemic has been educational. One of its lessons is (to paraphrase a famous movie): music finds a way. If getting together in the studio is a problem, then grab the technology and go the remote recording route. It worked for guitarist Justin Morell and drummer Mark Ferber on 2022's Exit Music For Intelligent Life ...
Tim Bruer: Love Letters: Compositions For Solo Piano
by Dan McClenaghan
The music on Australian pianist Tim Bruer's Love Letters: Compositions For Solo Piano have simple beginnings. For example, a chord that Bruer loved--one which came about via his “messing around" with a keyboard sound that caught his ear--then developed quickly, with little tweaking, into its completed form; a composition was born Bruer loves sounds ...
Avi Granite 6: Operator
by Dan McClenaghan
Guitarist Avi Granite--in the company of his brash band Avi Granite 6--opens his Operator with “Crushing Beans," displaying a big bad attitude. The drums are explosive, the horns belt it out, the bass shakes the walls and Granite slashes and burns. The first impression is: “This must be a great live band." And indeed, the studio ...
Alister Spence / Tony Buck: Mythographer
by Dan McClenaghan
Duo recordings, no matter what the particular instrumentation, are able to showcase musical mind-melds. Two artists conversing, trading and extrapolating on each other's ideas. Pianist Alister Spence and drummer Tony Buck try the format on for size with Mythographer. This spontaneous, one-day-session recording opens with “Dry Wood Talking." It sounds as if the talking ...
Brad Goode: The Unknown
by Dan McClenaghan
One of the joys attached to reviewing music is the exposure to artists who otherwise might not show up on the radar. For every Pat Metheny there are a hundred highly-creative, lower-profile, hugely-talented guitarists plucking the strings; for every Brad Mehldau plying the trade ten dozen marvelous, relatively unknown pianists show up in the mailbox or ...
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