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Results for "Hrayr Attarian"
Akira Miyazawa: Four Units
by Hrayr Attarian
The name Akira Miyazawa, rarely if ever, appears in jazz reference books, at least not in ones available in North America. Other than some sites selling his CDs, the internet does not offer much about the saxophonist. This is a shame since his recordings tell the story of an accomplished musician whose work has remained intriguing ...
Quartetto Di Lucca: Quartetto
by Hrayr Attarian
When one thinks of jazz in Italy few names come immediately to mind: Enrico Rava, Stefano Battaglia and maybe even Carlo Actis Dato, but definitely not Quartetto di Lucca, a short lived Modern Jazz Quartet-inspired group from the late 1950s. In 2006, RCA Europe's The Vibe subdivision released the group's only album, originally released in 1962, ...
Kenny Cox: Introducing Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet
by Hrayr Attarian
Much like the pop music world has its so called “one hit wonders, jazz has also had those musicians who produced one or two excellent records and then faded into obscurity, only to have their records become collector items decades later. Blue Note Records, more than any other mainstream label, has recorded these talented, but ill-recognized ...
Michael Kocour: Speaking in Tongues
by Hrayr Attarian
Recording a tribute album is a brave and often thankless undertaking since listeners and reviewers are bound to compare the musician doing the recording to the one to whom homage is being paid. This becomes a more courageous act when the subject of the album is not one but two giants of modern music: pianists Bud ...
David Lackner: Chapter One
by Hrayr Attarian
With few exceptions there are two types of debut albums in jazz. The first is a perfect and brilliant work that becomes the high point of the musician's career, whose later works are always compared to that first flash of brilliance. The second is a solid, interesting and intriguing work that, although far from perfect, serves ...
Mike Longo: Float Like a Butterfly
by Hrayr Attarian
When an essential element is missing from a recording, even the highest quality of musicianship cannot make up for its absence. There is no doubt that Mike Longo and his trio, featuring bassist Paul West and drummer Jimmy Wormworth, are musicians and improvisers of the first order, but on Float Like a Butterfly one cannot shake ...
David Joel: Spiral Sky
by Hrayr Attarian
It is much harder to recognize the inherent merit of any work when one has a bias against its form. Despite Spiral Sky's fusion stance, however, guitarist David Joel has created a musical opus of extreme beauty. Each piece is like a well-crafted short story, with the ability to invoke a whole gamut of thoughts and ...
Bob Hamilton: WixWax
by Hrayr Attarian
One of the appeals of improvised music is that it can put an infinite number of fresh spins on familiar ideas and, sometimes, even infuse new themes with a familiar feel. Although Bob Hamilton's WixWax consists of mostly original (seven out of nine) tunes, the music has a very familiar yet fresh feel to it. It's ...
Joel Moore Quartet: Joel Moore Quartet
by Hrayr Attarian
Certain musical works are meant to be thought-provoking and emotionally moving--even disturbing; others are meant to be soothing and ear pleasing. Joel Moore Quartet's eponymous CD is of the latter kind. The music is a cross between later day soul-jazz and contemporary smooth sounds, with laidback tunes where the improvisation rarely ventures far from the melody, ...
Jeff Gardner Trio: Breath
by Hrayr Attarian
Simplicity and sophistication are not mutually exclusive, especially when it comes to music. Jazz pianist and educator Jeff Gardner's trio disc Breath illustrates the point extremely well. The setting is a pared down, piano-led trio. The tunes are straightforward, mellifluous and serve as launching pads for very sophisticated improvisations. The music, all composed ...
