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Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau: Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau
by Geno Thackara
If you blinked at the wrong time, it was easy to miss the fact that Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau had played together at all. For two such restless collaborators, each occasional encounter was one more fleeting meet-up among many others--a quick one-off in 2011, a nine-city string of duo shows in 2013 and another two-night ...
Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio at Germantown Settlement School
by Geno Thackara
Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio Settlement Music School Philadelphia, PA December 23, 2016 He's come a long way since first starting lessons at Philadelphia's Settlement Music School, but city native Kurt Rosenwinkel has never forgotten those roots. On a night when they could have been squeezing in a little last-minute ...
Brainchildren of Xenog: Brain//Child
by Geno Thackara
The Dutch outfit Brain//Child seems like the progeny of many different parents: besides its actual members of course, it shows touches of a range of free players, from Ornette Coleman up to current contemporaries like Ingrid Laubrock with maybe a hint of experimental laptop-ist Ikue Mori. Three members are credited with electronics in addition to instruments, ...
Clouds and Stormy Nights: A New Pair from QFTF
by Geno Thackara
Germany's growing QFTF label remains ambitious as ever as 2016 draws to a close, showcasing two young off-the-beaten-path bandleaders with their own ideas of the directions modern jazz might take. With some fairly offbeat feels for melody, the pair manage to serve as two sides of the same semi-abstract coin. Matthew Sheens Cloud ...
Olga Konkova and Jens Thoresen: December Songs
by Geno Thackara
It's a Christmas album even a Grinch can love. The title December Songs already hints that this affair is themed around the general season and mood rather than one particular holiday. The format (sparse piano/guitar duets) smoothly follows suit. The song selection includes a few of the same carols that always get overplayed at the end ...
Geno Thackara's Best Releases of 2016
by Geno Thackara
I always say it when recapping every year, and it's been truer than ever for me since I was fortunate to join All About Jazz at the start of 2016: there's always too much great stuff to take in. There are always too many albums we don't get around to during the year and too little ...
Keith Jarrett: A Multitude of Angels
by Geno Thackara
Music is fundamentally a spiritual experience, but it's still rare for Keith Jarrett to be as forthright about it as he is in the liner notes to A Multitude of Angels. Occasionally he's written oblique blurbs vaguely touching on the mysteries of inspiration--after all, the music always speaks best for itself. By contrast, here he's admirably ...
Haakon Graf/Erik Smith/Per Mathisen: Sunrain
by Geno Thackara
Digging into the staggered groove of “Santa Monica" during an end-of-2014 performance in Oslo's Olsen Bar, Haakon Graf glides along the keys in an easygoing manner to begin building the show's energy. The electric trappings of '70s Jeff Beck come to mind--albeit without the guitar--alongside the sound of classic outfits like Weather Report and Herbie Hancock's ...
Jon Stickley Trio: Lost at Last
by Geno Thackara
Intricacy and virtuosity can so often turn listeners away if they get excessive, but the Jon Stickley Trio finds that sweet spot where it never sounds awkward. They specialize in a stylistic mishmosh based around (but hardly limited to) folk, jazz and bluegrass, hooky and melodic enough to make any instrumental flash feel like an afterthought. ...
California Guitar Trio: Komorebi
by Geno Thackara
Things come somewhat full circle for the California Guitar Trio on their fifteenth album Komorebi. Having often experimented with all manner of electronics and effects to weave sound textures, here they drift back towards compositions that use their acoustic guitars pure and unadorned. It was made live in a room with a minimal rig, much the ...
