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Article: Extended Analysis

Julia Hülsmann Quartet w/ Theo Bleckmann: A Clear Midnight - Weill and America

by John Kelman
April 7, 2015

Given enough time, things in life often come around full circle. Julia Hülsmann's three recordings for Munich's ACT label were all vocal affairs, where the German pianist's core trio--with bassist Marc Muellbauer and drummer Heinrich Köbberling--were joined by singers ranging from Norway's Rebekka Bakken to Germany's Roger Cicero. Since moving to another Munich label, the more ...

Article: Jazz Art

Ziga Koritnik and The Eye

by John Kelman
April 3, 2015

In a time when cameras are more pervasive and invasive than they've ever been--with iPhones, iPads, Androids and low-price point-and-shoot devices lending the impression that everyone is a photographer--photo artists like Žiga Koritnik, paradoxically, stand out more than ever. Sure, anyone can take a picture, but to get to the heart of a subject and truly ...

Article: Extended Analysis

Adam Holzman: The Deform Variations

by John Kelman
April 2, 2015

He's been Steven Wilson's keyboardist of choice (and rightfully so) since the British progressive rocker first hit the road in 2011, after years fronting Porcupine Tree, in support of the Kscope artist's first two albums as a solo artist--2009's Insurgentes and 2011's Grace for Drowning. But while Adam Holzman continues to work with Wilson to this ...

Article: Extended Analysis

The half-finished heaven

by John Kelman
March 31, 2015

She may have debuted on ECM (and, consequently, far beyond the borders of her native Norway) with 2007's Starflowers, but Sinikka Langeland has, in fact, been around for more than two decades, with her first album, Langt Innpå Skoga, released on Norway's Grappa label in 1994. Composer, singer and master of the kantele—an antiquated Scandinavian dulcimer/zither ...

Article: Rediscovery

John Abercrombie: Characters

by John Kelman
March 24, 2015

John Abercrombie CharactersECM Records1978 Guitarist John Abercrombie's emergence as a guitarist of singularity seems, in retrospect to have happened very quickly. A band member in the horn-driven jazz-rock band Dreams alongside drummer Billy Cobham and the Brecker Brothers, as well as stints with fusion keyboardist Barry Miles, saxophonist Gato Barbieri and ...

Article: Rediscovery

Jack DeJohnette's Directions: New Rags

by John Kelman
March 20, 2015

Jack DeJohnette's DirectionsNew RagsECM Records1977 Today's Rediscovery is an album that, despite never being released officially on CD, is a relatively regular play chez Kelman, getting spun at least a couple times every year. New Rags (ECM, 1977), the third and, sadly, final recording by drummer Jack DeJohnette's Directions group, pares ...

Article: Extended Analysis

Eberhard Weber: Encore

by John Kelman
March 16, 2015

In a time when too many things that seem unfair create victims rather than heroes, the world needs more people like Eberhard Weber. Struck down with a major stroke in 2007, the renowned German bassist found himself without the strength required in his left hand to be able to play the custom-built, electric five-string double bass ...

Article: Rediscovery

Haken: The Mountain

by John Kelman
March 14, 2015

Haken The MountainInside Out Records2013 For a group as young as Britain's Haken to find The Mountain selected by Prog Magazine's readers as one of “The 100 Greatest Prog Albums Albums of All Time"--and at an über-respectable position of #54--is a remarkable enough feat for a group with only two albums ...

Article: Extended Analysis

Gefion

by John Kelman
March 10, 2015

It's been a long time coming. Jakob Bro made his first ECM appearance as a member of drummer Paul Motian's twin-sax/triple-guitar band on the late drummer's Garden of Eden (2006). Three more years passed before he returned, this time as a member of Tomasz Stanko's trans-European quintet on 2009's Dark Eyes--a group that evolved considerably from ...

Article: Extended Analysis

Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (Deluxe Edition)

by John Kelman
March 7, 2015

After nearly five years that saw the group release five albums--from 1969's earth-shattering eponymous debut to 1973's less consistent Houses of the Holy (all on Atlantic Records)--and incessant touring that saw the group break numerous attendance records and reach the top of the charts worldwide, Led Zeppelin finally took a much-needed break in 1974. Still, while ...