Home » Search Center » Results: David Adler
Results for "David Adler"
Mahavishnu Orchestra: The Lost Trident Sessions
by David Adler
Two words stick in my mind after listening to this album, and those words are Billy Cobham. I’ve always felt that Cobham’s drums and John McLaughlin’s guitar were the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s most exciting and essential elements. Here Cobham leaves everyone, including McLaughlin, in the dust. If for no other reason, this long-lost record deserved to be ...
Bobby Watson: Quiet As It's Kept
by David Adler
Bobby Watson is a great alto saxophonist, but his latest album is nothing to write home about. The first few tunes, with their light latin grooves and trite melodies, border on schlocky. Bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Ralph Peterson provide a hipness factor that somewhat diminishes the easy listening vibe. But Greg Skaff’s acoustic guitar and ...
Keith Jarrett: The Melody At Night, With You
by David Adler
I once heard a well-known pianist refer to Keith Jarrett as “the Elton John of jazz," and it wasn’t a slam. I think James Taylor is more like it. Taylor’s music has a certain country-blues Americanism; it lives in a galaxy nearer to Jarrett’s gospel- and folk-tinged songs and improvisations. It’s true, Jarrett has always been ...
Kenny Wheeler: A Long Time Ago: Music for Brass Ensemble and Soloists
by David Adler
Kenny Wheeler’s records for the most part have featured small groups dotted with big names from the ECM stable: Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Keith Jarrett, John Abercrombie, Peter Erskine, Bill Frisell, and so on. Here the Canadian-born trumpeter/composer recruits a brass ensemble from his adopted home, England. There are four trumpets, two trombones, two bass trombones, ...
Paul Bley/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Not Two, Not One
by David Adler
Despite its esoteric thrust, this music is suffused with the classic sound of the jazz piano trio. And if anyone knows the format inside and out, it’s these three men. Pianist Paul Bley started out as a bebopper in the 50s, playing trio with Mingus and Art Blakey. A decade later, drummer Paul Motian played a ...
John Abercrombie: Open Land
by David Adler
John Abercrombie’s guitar tone has changed a lot over the years. I am particularly fond of his late 70s quartet with Richard Beirach, George Mraz, and Peter Donald. Back then his sound was extremely dark—nearly underwater in fact, with no treble to speak of. Lately it’s developed a lot more flesh and attack. On this new ...
The New Jazz Composers Octet: The New Jazz Composers Octet
by David Adler
Upon hearing pianist Xavier Davis’s “First Steps into Reality," which opens this album and provides its title, some might voice familiar objections. “Wait, these guys play tradition-bound hard bop and wear jackets and ties. It’s just another crop of Young Lions. Nothin’ new about it." Well, keep listening. David Weiss, founder, leader, and trumpeter of The ...
OK Nok...Kongo: Moonstone Journey
by David Adler
On Moonstone Journey, the fine Danish avant-gardists of OK Nok...Kongo play compositions by an American expatriate and Coltrane/Shepp alum, saxophonist John Tchicai. The Danish expression “OK Nok" roughly translates to “A-OK," and “Kongo" is the African nation from which Tchicai’s father hailed. Joined by Tchicai himself, the group sets out to explore the elliptic space between ...
Michael Brecker (Verve: Time Is of the Essence
by David Adler
There's no doubting Michael Brecker's status as a tenor saxophone giant. As a composer and a leader of bands, however, he still seems to be searching'on the right track, but searching. His work for Impulse in the late 80s was slick and a bit ordinary'remember the ill-fated EWI?'and his live group during that period, featuring fusion ...
Renee Rosnes: Art & Soul
by David Adler
On her sixth Blue Note release, burning pianist Renee Rosnes is joined by drummer/husband Billy Drummond and bassist Scott Colley, whose ubiquity of late threatens to reach Dave Holland proportions. Whereas previous outings have stressed Rosnes’s own compositions, this disc contains only two originals—and they happen to be my two favorite cuts. The up-tempo “Romp" is ...
