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836

Article: Big Band Caravan

Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge / Swiss Jazz Orchestra / The Aggregation

Read "Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge / Swiss Jazz Orchestra / The Aggregation" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge The Comet's Tail MAMA Records 2009 On The Comet's Tail, Chuck Owen's superb Florida-based Jazz Surge performs the compositions--yes, compositions--of the late great tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker. As Owen writes in the liner notes, “[Michael's] blinding brilliance as a performer / improviser...may ...

285

Article: Album Review

Mo'Fone: Sling Shot

Read "Sling Shot" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson

It must be challenging for Mo'Fone to secure gigs and, no doubt, many a venue refused them once the trio explained its lineup as two saxophones and drums. It's a setup sure to suggest an avant-garde trip or vaudeville novelty outing but the music on Sling Shot is, in fact, both tremendously listenable and serious. While ...

795

Article: Live Review

Jazz Middelheim 2009

Read "Jazz Middelheim 2009" reviewed by Martin Longley

by Martin Longley

Jazz Middelheim 2009Park Den BrandtAntwerpenBelgium The Jazz Middelheim festival is nearing its fortieth anniversary, but it's a weekender that hasn't relinquished a fondness for adventure. Nuzzling up against its stellar bookings are acts, Belgian and otherwise, who seek to jolt the expectations of many audience members. The entertaining middle way ...

2,107

Article: Extended Analysis

Live 1973-2007

Read "Live 1973-2007" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman

With all of British mega-group Genesis' studio discography now available in remixed/remastered form, including 5.1 surround mixes and a bevy of bonus audio and video features, the only commercial material left to receive engineer Nick Davis' careful attention is its series of four live albums. These begin with Genesis Live (Charisma, 1973) and end with The ...

396

Article: Album Review

Andy Emler: Crouch, Touch, Engage

Read "Crouch, Touch, Engage" reviewed by Jean-Marc Gelin

by Jean-Marc Gelin

With Crouch, Touch, Engage, Andy Elmer is back. He is one of the most influential pianist/composers to have appeared on the French scene in the last 15 years, having explored all the possible links between jazz and rock. He has collaborated with some major jazz artists, including (Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Trilok Gurtu and the late ...

242

Article: Album Review

Ted Kooshian's Standard Orbit Quartet: Underdog And Other Stories...

Read "Underdog And Other Stories..." reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto

Ignore the fact that pianist Ted Kooshian regularly covers cartoon and TV music in his quartet and what's left is an appreciation for music that swings exceptionally hard, and a passion for each tune that is anything but “animated." Kooshian's Standard Orbit Quartet has produced its second volume of music, Underdog And Other Stories..., following a ...

400

Article: Album Review

Gutbucket: A Modest Proposal

Read "A Modest Proposal" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita

This multitasking quartet offers a sense of newness to the jazz realm by crossing borders and taking an aggressive, raucous and well-rehearsed stance. In theory, the band should capture the attention of the young and thoroughly hip, along with the adventurous music aficionados who yearn for a sense of musical excitement. Gutbucket rocks the ...

402

Article: Album Review

Luca Aquino: Lunaria

Read "Lunaria" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello

Not very long ago, there was an interesting best-selling fiction book entitled Einstein's Dreams (Random House, 1992). In it, author Alan Lightman depicted what might have been the unusual dreams of a young Albert Einstein as he developed his Relativity Theories. Each short chapter covered time/relativity-related dreams of places where time went in reverse, stood still, ...

427

Article: Album Review

Emile Parisien Quartet: Original Pimpant

Read "Original Pimpant" reviewed by Jean-Marc Gelin

by Jean-Marc Gelin

It's almost incongruous to write about Emile Parisien's Original Pimpant, considering the importance of its collective dimension. This is not only about the soprano saxophonist's quartet. Parisien--young prodigy, pupil and proof of the good reputation of France's Marciac jazz school--is not looking for individual recognition here. His is a distinctive approach that's about a collective construction ...

362

Article: Album Review

Marc Ducret: Le sens de la marche

Read "Le sens de la marche" reviewed by Jean-Marc Gelin

by Jean-Marc Gelin

From the word go, guitarist Marc Ducret's Le sens de la marche enters another world, an unsettled one full of surprise and anguish--one for which there can be no preparation. Vaguely reminiscent of Frank Zappa, King Crimson and Tim Berne, it's a musical hubbub of organized chaos--systematic in theory but brutal and brilliant in practice. The ...


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