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Lucian Ban & Alex Harding: Somethin' Holy
by Derek Taylor
As band mates and musical brothers Lucian Ban and Alex Harding share the kind of synergy essential to a successful duet session. Both men evince highly emotive playing styles--and coupled with astute expertise in the language of jazz, it's a pairing guaranteed to pay dividends. Harding is a regular member of Ban's working group, which operates ...
Lee Konitz & Matt Wilson: Gong With Wind Suite
by Derek Taylor
In the context of improvised music, few are as adept as Lee Konitz at flying under the critical radar. Based on his longevity alone the man should have a university jazz department named after him- never mind that said career has been marked by an almost uniform standard of excellence. From his early days with the ...
Brad Goode & Von Freeman: Inside Chicago, Volume 3
by Derek Taylor
The latest in an ongoing series from Steeplechase, this third volume of concert tapes culled from Brad Goode’s fruitful association with elder improviser Von Freeman moves the action from Freeman’s familiar stomping grounds at the Jazz Showcase to the more venerable environs of the Green Mill. Also added to the formula this time out is the ...
Johnny Griffin: And the Great Danes
by Derek Taylor
For the better part of four decades, Northern Europe has been something of a second home to Johnny Griffin. Following the lead of his peers, the saxophonist immigrated to Paris in the early '60s and later moved to the Netherlands in the early '70s. The life of the expatriate jazz musician has been his preferred lot ...
Kent Kessler: Bull Fiddle
by Derek Taylor
More than any other instrument, double basses tend to show the miles logged by their owners. At the mercy of malevolent baggage handlers, trundled endlessly to and fro, these whales of the instrument world register each mishandling with legions of scratches, notches and splinters etched into their lacquered skins. Kent Kessler has certainly put some miles ...
Evan Parker & Joe McPhee: Chicago Tenor Duets
by Derek Taylor
Even with all the grousing about improvised music’s marginalized status, certain circles see a glut of new releases as an obfuscating force. There’s validity to that argument, and a spectrum of quality definitely exists. But the fact remains that current offerings on record store shelves pale in comparison to what lies in the can collecting dust ...
Seven Slices of Early Lateef
by Derek Taylor
Born Bill Evans, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the man who would later adopt the Muslim moniker Yusef Lateef and become one of the earliest pioneers in the fusion of world music to jazz idioms got his start in the music under more modest circumstances. Gigging as a sideman in the bands of Lucky Millander and Roy Eldridge, ...
The Transcendentalists: Real Time Messengers
by Derek Taylor
The Trascendentalists wear their spiritualism on their collective sleeves. The ensemble’s name and songbook suggest easy fodder for naysayers and skeptics, but it’s in the straightforward emotion and honesty of their music that any tendencies toward listener cynicism are summarily abolished. Abbs accomplishes a mean feat on the opener by playing a bass ostinato and adding ...
Evan Parker & Paul Lytton: Collective Calls
by Derek Taylor
The duo of Parker and Lytton lodges readily under the canopy of other like-minded partnerships in creative improvised music. Think Lyons and Taylor or Cherry and Coleman. In a region of music that is nary a half century old, it’s a special thing for players to span the decades together and have an active union of ...
Harding/ Duval/ Rosen: Invocation For Pepper
by Derek Taylor
There were those who came before him on the horn, but Pepper Adams established himself as one of the first baritone saxophonists to truly test his instrument in freer improvisational contexts. His work with Mingus’ Workshop offers ample evidence to the truth of the claim. Just drop the needle on Blues and Roots, for instance, specifically ...
