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James Williams
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James Williams was an American jazz pianist. Williams began playing piano at age 13, and served as the organist at the Eastern Star Baptist Church in Memphis for six years early in his career. He attended Memphis State University, where he began playing jazz. In 1973 he became a faculty member at the Berklee College of Music, also playing with Alan Dawson's group alongside visiting musicians such as Milt Jackson, Art Farmer, and Sonny Stitt. His first album as a leader arrived in 1977, and in 1978 he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, remaining there for four years. He moved to New York City in the early 1980s, playing with Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, and Kenny Burrell, and formed his own group, the Intensive Care Unit, with Christian McBride, Bill Pierce, and Tony Reedus
Laura J Marras: Isotope
by Artur Moral
Laura J Marras first drew Neil Duggan's attention in his review of Alessandro Di Liberto's Punti Di Vista (GleAm Records, 2025), where her alto saxophone is repeatedly highlighted--thanks to her fresh blend of sensitivity and energy. Other press notes on that release, quite rightly, attributed to her traces of John Coltrane and Oliver Nelson, as well ...
Vadim Neselovskyi: The Beauty Of Music And The Scourge Of War
by Frank Housh
Ukrainian-born, Brooklyn-based pianist and composer Vadim Neselovskyi's art emerged from a fairly traditional path. He was classically trained at conservatories in his native Odessa and Germany, then received a scholarship to Berklee School of Music where he developed a distinct, sophisticated style that bridges jazz and classical music. His compositions have been performed by Randy Brecker, Antonio ...
The Summer Knows (Un été 42)
by Artur Moral
Not so young, but still foolish: arduous is the path chosen by pianist, composer and singer Franck Amsallem, a lesser-known figure--outside his immediate performance circle--even among some of the jazz world's most avid and encyclopedic enthusiasts. Nevertheless, this musician's name should appear in that roster of outstanding French baby boomer keyboardists mentioned in Pierre de Bethmann: ...
Barbara Bruckmüller Jazz Orchestra, feat. Aruán Ortiz: A Chain of Moments
by Artur Moral
Julio Cortázar's Rayuela (1963), Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves (2000) and Chris Ware's Building Stories (2012) are novels--both written and graphic--that stand out, not just for their literary merit, but also for the various ways readers can engage with them. A similar phenomenon occurs on the listening level with A Chain Of Moments: Suite in ...
Prescribing Jazz: A Top Ten
by Artur Moral
National Doctors' Day is celebrated unevenly across our mistreated planet. It is absent in most countries, while it is observed as a holiday in a few. Coinciding (in the United States and Australia) with this day of recognition for a vital profession, this article is especially directed to the entire jazz-loving medical community, focusing on six ...
James Williams: I Fall In Love Too Easily
by Artur Moral
Several factors hinder the enduring legacy of a figure like James Williams: a limited discography as a leader, curtailed by his deep commitment to teaching and early death, the frustrating unavailability of much of his published work in both physical and digital formats, lacking even a partial retrospective compilation, and, not a minor issue, a name ...
Kenny Garrett Speaks Through The Soul of His Jazz
by Dean Nardi
Mental bungee-jumping may not be their sport of choice, but a cerebral ledge exists that sooner or later every jazz musician must leap off. One day, ready or not, tuning up or shaking down their instrument, they will glance in a mirror, hug a pregnant mother-to-be, second-line a funeral, walk in the deepest, dark woods, chance ...
Carl Allen: Tippin'
by Dan Bilawsky
Save for a pair of co-led albums with bassist Rodney Whitaker, it's been more than two decades since master drummer Carl Allen released an album under his own name. Rectifying the situation, he delivers this high-appeal, in-the-pocket trio program with bassist Christian McBride and tenor saxophonist Chris Potter. When choosing the personnel for ...
Luther Allison: I Owe It All To You
by Dan Bilawsky
If you're hip to Luther Allison from his previous and continuing work--ivory tickling for breakout vocal star/Grammy winner Samara Joy, sideman recordings on the 88s and drums for notables like trombonist Michael Dease, clinics and teaching engagements aplenty, performances at upper tier venues in New York and across the country and abroad--then you already know the ...
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