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Frank Stallone: In Love in Vain
by Franz A. Matzner
It’s not quite clear why Frank Stallone has chosen to pursue classic big-band crooning, nor is it immediately apparent whether his is purely a project of nostalgia or something more ambitious. Upon first hearing his latest release, In Love In Vain, one thing, however, becomes immediately obvious, namely the album’s undeniable quality. Supported ...
Jaco Pastorius/Peter Graves/Various: Jaco Pastorius Big Band: Word of Mouth Revisited
by Franz A. Matzner
In the realm of tribute records, Jaco Pastorius Big Band: Word of Mouth Revisited is a rare achievement. Containing 21 tracks, each a rearrangement of a Pastorius original composition featuring a guest bassist, the album will not only remind those listeners already familiar with Jaco of his incontrovertible greatness, but is also bound to convert those ...
Conversation with Avishai Cohen
by Franz A. Matzner
Avishai Cohen has already had a stellar musical career. Playing on bass, electric bass, and piano, Cohen has worked with Chick Corea, recorded solo, and founded his own rock group. He has proven himself both as instrumentalist and composer. With his latest release, Lyla Cohen has taken on the next challenge of label owner by founding ...
Larry Willis: Sanctuary
by Franz A. Matzner
Antediluvian of method or anachronistic of taste, dedicated purist or obdurate conservative, iconoclast or ludite, the debates surrounding Mapleshade owner, engineer, and producer Pierre Sprey will most likely never reach a definitive conclusion. Regardless of what label one chooses to apply, Mapleshade productions possess a distinct sound related directly to Sprey's dedicated traditional recording methods. Using ...
Michel Camilo: Live at the Blue Note
by Franz A. Matzner
Amazingly enough, this March 2003 recording marks the first live release from Michel Camilo, the Dominican Republic's preeminent pianist. Incidentally, it is also his first recording with an all Cuban rhythm section, Charles Flores on bass and Horacio “El Negro" Hernandez on drums. For those unaware of Camilo's virtuosity and compositional skill both ...
Avishai Cohen: Lyla
by Franz A. Matzner
Cross-pollination albums are difficult to produce, difficult to market, and most of all, difficult to make well. Lyla may very well succeed at all three. Combining Latin sources and electronic dance grooves with sampling and textural elements, pop covers, solo piano, and traditional jazz methods, Avishai Cohen has without a doubt succeeded in ...
Jason Moran: The Bandwagon
by Franz A. Matzner
Evaluating Jason Moran’s latest release, Bandwagon, feels as inconsequential as describing the relative worth of oceanic conditions or the comparative pleasures of desert vistas, mountainous landscapes, and tundra planes. For Moran’s music is as much a display of nature, and incorporating as varied a range of phenomena, as the above physical environments. Moran ...
Devorah Day: Light of Day
by Franz A. Matzner
In an odd metaphysical sense, the avant-garde always sounds the same. Abstract, startling, disconcerting, slightly opaque, sometimes impenetrable, razor-sharp, and to the right kind of ears, irresistible. All of this characterizes jazz vocalist and songwriter Devorah Day’s debut release, Light of Day. As with anything of this nature, it remains to be seen ...
Fred Fried: Infantry of Leaves
by Franz A. Matzner
As usual, it is difficult to decide which is more graceful, 7-string guitarist Fred Fried’s composing or his playing. On 2001's Infantry of Leaves , Fried and his trio mates, Steve LaSpina on bass and Billy Drummond on drums, present ten new Fried compositions. Each is a marvel of depth and balance, and ...
T.S. Monk: Higher Ground
by Franz A. Matzner
T.S. Monk's new album Higher Ground serves up a decidedly challenging musical concoction. With this release, Monk has not only solidified a highly personal sound, he has done something rare and infinitely appealing: he has created idiosyncratic, confounding music. Released in conjunction with the founding of Thelonious Records, and coinciding with the long ...
