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Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio: In Full Swing
by Joel Roberts
Mark O'Connor is hotter than hot these days. The onetime country fiddler's best-selling, Grammy- winning classical albums have made him that rarest of things: a crossover artist whose genre-hopping is less about marketing than serious creative expression and boundless musical ambition. In Full Swing, O'Connor's new tribute to fellow violin virtuoso Stephane Grappelli - the man ...
Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band: Gerry Mulligan at the Village Vanguard
by Joel Roberts
Anyone who's ever complained that so-called “cool jazz" artists don't know how to swing should check out this one from Gerry Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band. The 13-piece group was sure swinging hard one Sunday afternoon at the Village Vanguard in December 1960. What sets this ensemble apart isn't so much the compositions (though they're a fine ...
Kate McGarry: Show Me
by Joel Roberts
Too many jazz singers try too hard, placing tech-nique and pyrotechnics above genuine feeling and personal expression. Not Kate McGarry. A Massachusetts native now based in Brooklyn, McGarry has a natural, unaffected manner that separates her from the pack of wannabe divas. On Show Me, McGarry takes a relaxed, patient approach to a well-chosen set of ...
Trio 3: Open Ideas
by Joel Roberts
It would be hard to assemble a trio of more open- and high-minded jazz artists than Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake and Reggie Workman. These veterans of the avant-jazz wars, joining forces as Trio 3 on their third album since '97, combine musical excellence and compositional skills with a shared sensibility that's well summed up by the ...
Vijay Iyer: Panoptic Modes
by Joel Roberts
Although Vijay Iyer has a Ph.D. in music and cognitive science, his dazzling new CD, Panoptic Modes , shows the New York-based pianist more focused on spiritual concerns than purely intellectual ones. Melding Vedic chant and South Indian rhythms with the more obvious influences of Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, Iyer creates a unique and vibrant ...
Adam Levy: Buttermilk Channel
by Joel Roberts
I don't know if guitarist Adam Levy made Buttermilk Channel with the searing heat of New York in July in mind, but his impressive debut effort as a leader makes perfect listening for lazy, languorous midsummer city days. On this groove-based trio album (featuring New York stalwarts Larry Goldings on organ and Kenny Wollesen on drums), ...
Antoine Silverman
by Joel Roberts
Antoine Silverman's singular gifts as a musician, as well as his choice of the violin as his musical voice, lend his work both a freshness and a familiarity that reaches well beyond a traditional jazz audience. “The violin is such an unusual instrument for jazz that it almost inherently lends itself to new approaches ...
Jafar Barron: The Free-Bop Movement
by Joel Roberts
Philadelphia trumpeter Jafar Barron offers an impressively cohesive mix of bebop, hip hop and spoken word on his debut album on Q Records. But jazz purists (at least those with open ears) need not fear - this is a jazz album, albeit one that draws on both rap and electronics. Barron's approach most directly paralells that ...
Antoine Silverman: Blue Moods
by Joel Roberts
A classically trained violinist who spent time as a bluegrass and country musician in Nashville and currently earns a living in New York backing up pop stars like Sinead O'Connor and Moby, Antoine Silverman has certainly made his mark outside the jazz world. But for an artist with such an eclectic resume, Blue Moods , Silverman's ...
Jafar Barron: The Free-Bop Movement
by Joel Roberts
Philadelphia trumpeter Jafar Barron offers an impressively cohesive mix of bebop, hip hop and spoken word on his debut album on Q Records. But jazz purists (at least those with open ears) need not fear - this is a jazz album, albeit one that draws on both rap and electronics. Barron's approach most directly paralells that ...
