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Rufus Reid: Out Front and with Old Friends
by J Hunter
Great bassists are worth their weight in Maine lobster. Aside from maintaining the foundation so the drummer can stick and move, a great bassist can offer a substantial counterweight to a soloist, plus an additional voice that expands a band's capacity for dialogue. By those measures, Rufus Reid is a great, great bassist, with a strength ...
Ralph Bowen, Dan Pratt, Brandon Wright: Posi-Tone strikes gold again
by J Hunter
Traditional jazz does not have to be boring. It does not have to be staid, or re-fried or adhere to a formula concocted in a New Orleans barroom over nine decades ago. A lot of the large labels don't get that. Fortunately, the creative triumvirate at Posi-Tone Records not only understands this concept, but they practice ...
Daniel Kelly, Gary Peacock & Marc Copland, Allison Miller: Solo, Duo, Trio
by J Hunter
It can be argued that a quartet offers jazz listeners maximum effect with minimal personnel. It allows for two solo voices without compromising the rhythm section, and gives a composer access to a wider range of colors than could be provided by a smaller group. Then again, there are players doing much more with much less. ...
Great Vibes: Nova NOLA and The Wee Trio
by J Hunter
Despite the current iteration of the “Jazz is Dead" riff, it is impossible to throw a rock without hitting one of the music's latest wave of horn players, reed players, keyboardists, bassists or drummers. The one area that lacks ground-breaking new personnel in 2010 is “mallets" (vibraphone and marimba), although every recent generation has had its ...
Frank Vignola: 100 Years of Django
by J Hunter
Of all the things guitarist Django Reinhardt accomplished in his 43 years on earth, two stand out: He proved you don't have to have a big band in order to swing, and you don't have to play soft and slow in order to be intimate. Reinhardt's Le Hot Club Quintet of France (formed with violinist Stéphane ...
Torben Waldorff: American Rock Beauty
by J Hunter
It's interesting to watch musicians approach the comfort zone. Some see it as something sacrosanct, a precious relic to be protected and preserved like antique china; others treat it like the family handball, never hesitating to pick it up and hurl it against the wall with all possible force. Danish guitarist Torben Waldorff takes a third ...
Michael Janisch: Purpose Built
by J Hunter
At a glance, Purpose Built, bassist Michael Janisch's debut as a leader, looks like a big-band session. The roster on the back of the CD case is not just stocked with notables, it's a long list of notables. As such, it would make sense to imagine this group arranged on risers, pinning the studio's needles as ...
For Latin Lovers: Mark Weinstein, Claudio Roditi, Emilio Solla
by J Hunter
In many ways, the description “Latin jazz" is no more useful than the umbrella description “jazz." There are sub-genres inside the sub-genre, all of them with subtle color changes that provide different flavors, even though it all can lead to the same satisfying result. Here are three early 2010 entrants into this musical conversation.
Robin Verheyen: Starbound
by J Hunter
After studying in his native Belgium and in the Netherlands, expatriate saxman Robin Verheyen spent a year at the Manhattan School of Music, where one of his teachers was soprano sax wizard Dave Leibman. Anyone familiar with Leibman's work knows the ex-Miles Davis sideman's musical feet are planted firmly on the ground... although which planet that ...
Antonio Ciacca: Lagos Blues
by J Hunter
Four decades ago, Miles Davis called then-burgeoning saxophonist Steve Grossman “an important voice in this music." One of the people who heard that voice was pianist Antonio Ciacca. Lagos Blues, Ciacca's second disc for Motema, not only shows Grossman's influence as Ciacca's former teacher; it also includes the now-legendary tenor player's direct influence, as he joins ...
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