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Jon Davis: Happy Juice
by David A. Orthmann
Whitney Balliett once wrote, “good musicians do not copy their elders; they only use them as primers." These are words to keep in mind while listening to Jon Davis' Happy Juice, a ten track recital that acknowledges a number of modern jazz piano masters (Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett, and Red ...
Walt Weiskopf: Fountain Of Youth
by David A. Orthmann
Fountain Of Youth is the latest installment of Walt Weiskopf's mid-career renaissance. In reviews of Weiskopf's three previous Posi-Tone releases, I made the misstep of treating his imposing skills as a tenor saxophonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader as separate, albeit compatible entities; this time around I realized that they are indeed parts of a larger, all-encompassing ...
Theo Hill: Promethean
by David A. Orthmann
Promethean captures Theo Hill at a significant juncture in his development. The record is ample evidence that the thirty-something New York City-based artist is rapidly securing a place in the crowded field of noteworthy contemporary jazz pianists. On the one hand--particularly during medium and up-tempo cuts such as “This Here," “Hey, It's Me You're Talking To," ...
John Hart at The Turning Point Cafe
by David A. Orthmann
John Hart The Turning Point Cafe Jazz at The Turning Point Cafe Piermont, NY April 24, 2017 In the midst of a second week of suffering from a particularly virulent strain of the flu, John Richmond should be taking it easy. Moving in a sluggish manner, avoiding close contact with ...
Mark Hagan's Jazz Salon At The Old 76 House
by David A. Orthmann
Mark Hagan The Old 76 House Jazz Salon Tappan, NY April 19, 2017 There's nothing quite like the experience of being captivated by a live performance in a matter of seconds after the band hits. Without having to stop to think about it, you realize that the intellect and ...
Lewis Nash and Steve Wilson at JazzNights
by David A. Orthmann
Lewis Nash and Steve Wilson Hockaday/Jones Barn JazzNights Hopewell, NJ April 9, 2017 Two tacit, entwined propositions animated a performance by Lewis Nash and Steve Wilson at JazzNights, a long running concert series in the Princeton, NJ area curated by Mary Wisnovsky and Maitland Jones. The first is that it's ...
Shawn Baltazor: Lionsong
by David A. Orthmann
It's difficult to resist the temptation to praise Shawn Baltazor's startling, diverse, incisive, multifaceted drumming at the expense of his equally impressive abilities as a composer and bandleader. Baltazor is one of the legions of young, gifted New York City area artists whose catholic tastes in music are transformed into idiosyncratic, open-ended methodologies, which ultimately engender ...
Billy Mintz: Ugly Beautiful
by David A. Orthmann
Consisting of seventeen tracks spanning over two hours of playing time, Ugly Beautiful is a large, sprawling, wise, unflinchingly honest, powerful work of art. Billy Mintz's third recording as a leader--all of which were made in the most recent decade of a fifty-year plus career--stubbornly refuses to conform to stylistic boundaries and gleefully defies expectations of ...
Vinnie Sperrazza: Juxtaposition
by David A. Orthmann
The most intriguing thing about Juxtaposition, Vinnie Sperrazza's recently released recording, is its loose grip on the jazz tradition. The disc's twelve tracks don't come with a set of standard, recognizable references. Not unlike many of today's leading young artists, Sperrazza has absorbed the lessons of the music's past, and is currently interested in doing things ...
Dmitry Baevsky: The Day After
by David A. Orthmann
Imagine a group that, in large measure, references the bebop revolution of nearly seventy-five years ago, yet steers clear of the pitfalls of nostalgia, hero worship, and blatant imitation, and ultimately wins the day with an adroit blend of teamwork and compelling individual voices. For those who believe that nothing good can come from contemporary players ...
