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Medeski, Martin & Wood + Nels Cline: Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2
by John Kelman
In retrospect, it was inevitable; why it took so long for veteran jazz jam band Medeski, Martin & Wood to get together with Nels Cline is anybody's guess. The über-guitarist has, since joining Wilco a decade ago, managed to significantly raise his visibility, but anybody who suggests that he's been “moonlighting" in the alt-country/alt-rock/alt-alt band to ...
Onaje Allan Gumbs: Bloodlife: Solo Piano Improvisations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson
by John Kelman
Best known for his mainstream work with Woody Shaw on classic albums like The Moontrane (Muse, 1975) and Stepping Stones (Columbia, 1978), it may come as a surprise to learn that pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs was not just a friend and mentor to Ronald Shannon Jackson, but that he also played on the drummer's Decode Yourself ...
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra: American Adventure
by John Kelman
Sometimes an idea seems great on paper, but in execution doesn't exactly work out as planned. Other times, that same idea doesn't just look great, it actually exceeds already high expectations. When saxophonist Tommy Smith--almost single-handedly responsible for rebuilding a modern jazz scene in his home country of Scotland, where he returned after studying at Boston's ...
Brian Blade: Fellowship - More Than Just a Word
by John Kelman
In the 21st century, few drummers have managed Brian Blade's kind of crossover success. Beyond playing in saxophonist Wayne Shorter's quartet for nearly 15 years, beyond being a first-call drummer for producer/singer/songwriter Daniel Lanois--whether it's for his own projects like Black Dub or working with everyone from Bob Dylan to EmmyLou Harris--and beyond also being on-call ...
Roddy Ellias Trio: Monday's Dream
by John Kelman
Since returning home to Ottawa after spending much of his adult life as an associate music professor at Concordia University in Montréal, Roddy Ellias may have retired but he's far from slowing down. Retirement's just a word, but for this extraordinary guitarist it's clearly been a liberating one; based on Monday's Dream, his first recording since ...
Ola Kvernberg Trio: Northern Tapes
by John Kelman
It's been three years since Ola Kvernberg released the ambitious Liarbird (Jazzland, 2011), a studio document of his 2010 Molde International Jazz Festival commission where guest Joshua Redman was recruited for the live performance, but where, far more than a ringer for Kvernberg, Redman was clearly awestruck by this virtuosic young violinist/composer. It's not that Kvernberg ...
Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration Deluxe Edition
by John Kelman
A star-studded show celebrating the music of Bob Dylan, televised around the world thirty years after the release of his first Columbia recording, 1962's Bob Dylan, could have been seen as swan song; after all, Dylan was in a period of songwriting inactivity that would last from 1990 through to his potent reemergence with 1997's Time ...
Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra: Habitat
by John Kelman
It may have been the title of her last album--Treelines, Christine Jensen's first large ensemble recording--but there was no song of that name on the 2010 Justin Time release. Instead, it's the lead-off to Habitat, Jensen's second album with her Jazz Orchestra, a commissioned work for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jazz Orchestra, its director, Dr. Paul ...
Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band: Landmarks
by John Kelman
Four records in 16 years may not be prolific, but clearly Brian Blade and his longstanding Fellowship Band aren't about quantity. While a seemingly scant two years separated the drummer's leader debut (and inspiration for the group name), Fellowship (Blue Note, 1998) from its even more impressive follow-up, Perceptual (Blue Note, 2002), the group's next record, ...
Zach Brock: Purple Sounds
by John Kelman
Virtuosity isn't defined by notes-per-minute; true virtuosity is instrumental mastery surrendering to the demands of the song. Sometimes that can mean shredding with furious intensity, yes; but the real deal also respects music that demands less, rather than more. Violinist Zach Brock is, indeed, the real deal, and Purple Sounds, his second release for Holland's Criss ...
