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ZZ Quartet: Beyond the Lines
by Dan McClenaghan
The group is called the ZZ Quartet, and no, it is not an expansion of the famed blues rock trio from Texas, ZZ Top. Beyond the Lines is the brainchild of the leaders--the Zs of the ZZ Quartet--accordion master Simone Zanchini and guitarist Ratko Zjaca. And their music isn't rock, though elements of the genre surface, ...
Billy Bang: Da Bang!
by Dan McClenaghan
The list of prominent jazz violinists is not a long one. Start with Stéphane Grappelli and his legendary Hot Club de France swing recordings with gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. Then there's Stuff Smith and his innovative electrolyzing of the instrument; Joe Venuti; the late Polish firebrand Zbigniew Seifert; and the still-active, post-bop/fusion player Jean-Luc Ponty.
Iro Haarla Sextet: Kolibri
by Dan McClenaghan
Finnish pianist Iro Haarla has expanded her customary quintet approach--trumpet, saxophone and rhythm section--with the addition of a third horn, Jari Hongisto's trombone, on Kolibri. The sextet is composed of some of Finland's most dynamic improvisors, and Haarla has given these vibrant artists the space to move the music in their own individual directions within the ...
Denny Zeitlin: Both/And
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Denny Zeitlin has the distinction--among many others--of having written one of the loveliest of love songs: Love Theme From Invasion of the Bodysnatchers." The tune can be heard in its unadorned beauty on Zeitlin's Precipice (Sunnyside Records, 2010), the recording of an extraordinarily beautiful and adventurous solo concert. The original version of the tune, from ...
The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra: In the Spirit of Duke
by Dan McClenaghan
Another tribute to bandleader/composer/pianist Duke Ellington? Is this necessary? Pulling from the archive a few recent nods to one of America's musical icons reveals 1997's elegant Count Plays Duke (Mama Records), by the Count Basie Orchestra; Don Sebesky's unabashedly gorgeous Joyful Noise (RCA Victor, 1999); and pianist Ted Howe's excellent trio affair, Ellington (Summit Records, 2005). ...
Steffen Schorn and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble: Tiefentraume
by Dan McClenaghan
German multiple reed man Steffen Schorn plays a wide array of wind instruments: tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones; Bb, bass, contra-alto and contrabass clarinets, along with the piccolo, flute, alto and bass flutes. So it makes sense for an artist with that many wind instruments in his quiver to collaborate with a wind ensemble, ...
Giovanni Guidi Trio: City of Broken Dreams
by Dan McClenaghan
Italian pianist Giovanni Guidi's ECM Records leader debut, City of Broken Dreams, fits in as a very fine addition to the label's ongoing introduction of a new guard of the art of the piano trio, European style. Recent entries into that elite club include Benedikt Jahnel's Equilibrium (2012), Stefano Battaglia's The River of Anyder (2011), and ...
Diego Barber/Hugo Cipres: 411
by Dan McClenaghan
The opening of the decidedly modern music on 411, the track entitled Timanfaya," sounds like a spooky, welcome to a plugged-in netherworld. It begins with electric surges and wafflings, then glowing beeps punctuating electric washes before a shift into tune two, all in," that sounds as if the late multiple reedman Eric Dolphy is hanging around ...
Dave Liebman/Michael Stephens: Lineage: Rock and Pop Classics Revisited
by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist Dave Liebman was yet another musician drawn into the orbit of trumpeter Miles Davis, contributing to the always innovative master band leader's extraordinary and ground breaking--but underappreciated and even maligned at its time of release--On the Corner (Columbia Records, 1972), as well as Dark Magus (Columbia Records, 1974) and Get Up With It (Columbia Records, ...
Teagan Taylor: Hello
by Dan McClenaghan
Teagan Taylor, San Diego's very talented up-and-coming vocalist/trumpeter/cornetist, has roots running deep in jazz. Her first album, I Can't Complain (Jazzomaniac Record, 2011) featured knock-out versions of the familiar standards, Takin' A Chance On Love, Bye Bye Blackbird, and Gershwin's But Not For Me," and Summertime." On the sophomore outing, Wonderland (Jazzomaniac Records, 2012), Taylor spread ...


