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Article: Album Review

Alexander McCabe / Paul Odeh: This Is Not A Pipe

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by Dan McClenaghan
October 8, 2014

Are we having fun yet? Saxophonist Alexander McCabe and pianist Paul Odeh are, on a rollicking duo outing, This Is Not A Pipe. The frequent collaborators delve into a loose-jointed, roll and tumble examination of some jazz standards and McCabe originals. The word “seamless" is an often used--some would say over-used--as a description of ...

Article: Album Review

Toby Koenigsberg Trio: Drift

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by Dan McClenaghan
October 4, 2014

Pianist Toby Koenigsberg explored some of bop icon Bud Powell's tunes, the Great American Songbook gem “My Foolish Heart," and Bill Evans' “Show Type Tune" on his outstanding 2005 Origin Records release, Sense. And there was a warped (in a good sense) take on the “Stella By Starlight," also from the Great American Songbook. All of ...

Article: Album Review

Jax Jazz Collective: Lotus Blossom: The Music of Billy Strayhorn

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by Dan McClenaghan
October 1, 2014

Duke Ellington (1899-1974)--Americas's finest bandleader, America's finest composer--released his own tribute to Billy Strayhorn, his partner in music and tune smithing. It was called ...And His Mother Called Him Bill (RCA, 1967). Ellington and Strayhorn's music was so intertwined that the Duke's less that fanatic fans might think that “Lush Life," “Take the A Train" and ...

Article: Album Review

Steve Heckman Quintet: Search for Peace

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by Dan McClenaghan
September 26, 2014

Saxophonist Steve Heckman has been dishing up rock solid mainstream jazz in the quartet and quintet settings since 2003's For John (World City Music), a tribute disc to the legendary saxophonist John Coltrane. That debut and his two subsequent offerings, Live at Yoshi's (World City Music, 2005) and Born to Be Blue (Jazzed Media, 2013), held ...

Article: Album Review

Chris Dundas / Arild Andersen / Bendik Hofseth / Patrice Heral: Oslo Odyssey

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by Dan McClenaghan
September 19, 2014

What's up with Oslo, Norway? Two of the outstanding recordings by of 2014 have come out of the city: pianist Paul Bley's Play Blue (ECM Records), and now Los Angeles-based pianist Chris Dundas' Oslo Odyssey (BLM Records). Dundas' profile isn't exactly soaring through the stars. He has one previous recording as a leader to ...

Article: Album Review

Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio: We're Back

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by Dan McClenaghan
September 15, 2014

Drummer Gerry Gibbs must be in a “strike while the iron is hot" mode. Less than a year after his very successful Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio (Whaling City Sound, 2013), featuring Ron Carter on bass and Kenny Barron on piano, he has reconvened with those jazz legends for a second go around. This time, with ...

Article: Album Review

David Neves: Progress Report

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by Dan McClenaghan
September 10, 2014

At twenty-five years of age, Boston-based trumpeter David Neves can't be expected to boast a big recorded with/played with resume. But he can boast a first rate education--Berklee and the New England Conservatory. And with his Progress Report, a marvelous debut as leader, Neves blows way beyond expectations for a new kid on the block.

Article: Album Review

Hal Galper Trio: O's Time

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by Dan McClenaghan
September 3, 2014

It's hard to be innovative in the piano trio format. The last big change happened in the late fifties and early sixties, with pianist Bill Evans' groundbreaking trio featuring bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. The democratization of input and interplay changed the trio game, and countless groups have worked on refining that Evans approach ...

Article: Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Great Lakes Suites

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by Dan McClenaghan
August 27, 2014

Two of the most enduring voices avant-garde jazz belong to trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and reedman Henry Threadgill. Smith's The Great Lakes Suites, six of his distinctive compositions on a two CD set, teams the two icons inside the equilateral quartet that includes drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist John Lindberg. It sounds like a dream team, ...

Article: Album Review

Kerry Politzer: Below the Surface

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by Dan McClenaghan
August 15, 2014

Pianist Kerry Politzer's relocation to Portland, Oregon seems to have given her music a boost. Always a fine mainstream artist, whether working the trio or quartet modes on Blue in Blue (Piloo Records, 2010) or Labyrinth (Palisonic Records, 2005), now her first “Portland disc," Below the Surface, finds her in a common quintet setting--trumpet/saxophone and rhythm ...