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Soft Machine: Softstage: BBC In Concert 1972
by John Kelman
If a band exemplified the term mercurial, it was Soft Machine. Starting as a kind of post-Dadaist pop band in the late '60s only to end a little more than a decade later as a guitar-driven fusion group, Soft Machine went through so many personnel changes that it's a challenge, even in retrospect, to keep up. ...
Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name
by John Kelman
Whether or not music can have a social and/or political conscience in and of itself is often debated, but that it can respond to such conditions is unquestionable. From Dave Douglas' Witness, which stemmed from concerns about unilateral political action, to Pat Metheny Group's The Way Up, a considered response to the “dumbing down of society, ...
Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate: Vienna Nights: Live at Joe Zawinul's Birdland
by John Kelman
As good as keyboardist/composer Joe Zawinul's last album (the '02 studio effort Faces and Places) was, his latest proves that some music is really meant to be experienced live. It's not about stretching out, although Zawinul's latest edition of the Zawinul Syndicate does take the opportunity to expand on the five tunes from Faces and Places ...
Bill Frisell: East/West
by John Kelman
Good music is where you find it. Sometimes it's clear as day because the original is so great that there's simply no doubt; other times it can be obscured by poor interpretation--but dig deep enough and unmistakable qualities are revealed. Over the past 25 years, guitarist Bill Frisell has built a reputation as a significant composer ...
Steve Smith/Dave Liebman/Aydin Esen/Anthony Jackson: Flashpoint
by John Kelman
You have to admire saxophonist Dave Liebman. With over fifty albums as a leader, he has built an impressive and varied body of work that has touched upon a wealth of styles. This year alone he's released an album with pianist Phil Markowitz, straddling the line between complex composition and more liberated free play (Manhattan Dialogues); ...
Greg Burk Trio: Nothing, Knowing
by John Kelman
With the number of pianists whose style stems directly from Keith Jarrett, it's easy to forget that his biggest influence was Paul Bley. While Jarrett has moved on to forge his own personal aesthetic, Bley was the one first provided a more lyrical alternative to Cecil Taylor's aggressively cathartic free play: a more thoughtful, considered improvisation ...
Bill Mays Trio: Live at Jazz Standard
by John Kelman
Pianist Bill Mays, now in his early sixties, is proof positive that aging needn't necessarily imply either slowing down or settling into a comfort zone. He has been an active collaborator with artists like Bud Shank (with whom he performed at this year's Ottawa International Jazz Festival), Shirley Horn, and Gerry Mulligan, but he's also established ...
William Parker Quartet: Sound Unity
by John Kelman
One aspect of being a bandleader these days is that you simply have to diversify. With road trips longer than two or three weeks now the exception rather than the rule, you need a variety of delineated projects to remain viable. And with the proliferation of independent record labels that, unlike the majors, don't demand exclusivity, ...
The Great Jazz Trio: At the Village Vanguard Again
by John Kelman
For the third and final reissue of performances culled from the Great Jazz Trio's three-night Village Vanguard run in '77--previously only available as expensive vinyl imports on the Japanese East Wind label--pianist Hank Jones, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams prove once again that standard material needn't imply standard delivery. The first two volumes--At the ...
John Zorn/Bar Kokhba Sextet: 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 11
by John Kelman
Tzadik has already culled ten widely varied live releases from saxophonist/composer John Zorn's month-long 50th birthday celebration two years ago at Tonic in New York. Surprisingly enough, there are still more than a few to come. It should be testament enough that a single artist has created such a broad spectrum of work and equally diverse ...
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