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Jim Snidero: Close Up
by Derek Taylor
Prose laureate Whitney Balliett coined the phrase “the sound of surprise" as an encomium for jazz. Like most of his peers, saxophonist Jim Snidero shoots regularly for this ideal. His new Milestone effort flirts with the target but doesn't quite hit the bull's-eye. An accessible program of original tunes shored up by two standards, each cogently ...
Gebhard Ullman-Steve Swell Quartet: Desert Songs & Other Landscapes
by Derek Taylor
Economical improv groups are CIMP's stock and trade. Rare are the sessions that employ ensembles larger than quartet size. For this reason critics often complain of a relative homogeneity amongst the label's roster of projects. The responsibility falls on tapped bands to say something fresh within instrumental formats that quite often have reams of precedence. Producer ...
Lou Grassi Quartet: Avanti Galoppi
by Derek Taylor
Inspiration for album titles rarely conforms to any sort of conventional wisdom. Witness the curious phrase chosen by drummer Lou Grassi to christen his latest CIMP offering. The Italian expression translates to “gallop ahead," a directive that mirrors Grassi's tendency toward barely bridled energy behind his kit. Subtlety and passivity aren't his usual temperaments and he's ...
Mary Anne Driscoll & Paul Murphy: Inside Out
by Derek Taylor
The Paul Murphy renaissance continues. Paint still wet on his own most recent session as a leader for Cadence Jazz Records ( Shadow–Intersections–West ), this new duo offering with an old partner and colleague ostensibly as leader arrives at a welcome juncture. The ties between pianist Mary Anne Driscoll and Murphy go back to the mid-1970s ...
Johnny Griffin & Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis: Pisces
by Derek Taylor
The early '60s was a golden age for tenor tandems. Towering team-ups like Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, and Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin were illustrative of the Zeitgeist. Such a simple formula, joining the talents of two titans on that most popular of jazz horns, but it's one that ...
Dexter Gordon: Heartaches
by Derek Taylor
Steeplechase takes its Dexter Gordon stewardship seriously. Last year occasioned the label's release of a box set covering the saxophonist's Complete Quartet and Trio Studio Sessions. In the months since that monumental release, air-shots from concerts at the Montmarte Jazz Haus circa summer 1965 have made their way into circulation. This latest entry finds Dex fronting ...
Dave Taylor: Morning Moon
by Derek Taylor
Debuts on CIMP don't always engender the sort of buzz they may deserve. The reasons behind this reality are arguable and frequently stem from subjective rather than objective concerns. They range from the perennial debates over Spirit Room sound to the informal mantra of “welcome to obscurity" that seems an accepted part of their inception. The ...
Kalaparush & the Light: Paths of Glory
by Derek Taylor
Returns to active duty are of special celebratory importance in jazz. Old lions who return from the wilderness to reclaim their place in the pride often enjoy renewed respect from both peers and pupils. What's often not addressed is the amount of effort and risk required to rebound to form. Witness the story of Henry Grimes, ...
Scott Rosenberg Quartet: Blood
by Derek Taylor
The perils of pedantry and self-righteousness have toppled more than a few pairings of music and politics. Saxophonist Scott Rosenberg seems cognizant of these dangers. The liners of his new CIMP album are infused with political indignation, but he wisely refrains from allowing these emotions to hijack his music. Instead, the targets of his ire--specifically the ...
Chris Kelsey Quartet: Renewal
by Derek Taylor
Sometimes a hiatus is the best answer to impending burnout. Soprano saxophonist Chris Kelsey recognized such signs and decided to shelve his horn in response to the stressors that were closing in. Also a writer, he seems to have hung up his quill for a spell as well. Time away from the rigors of creative improvised ...
