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Gianni Lenoci / Kent Carter / Bill Elgart: Plaything
by John Sharpe
Italian pianist Gianni Lenoci forms one apex of a trio with almost unlimited collective nous on Plaything. There are main two reasons for that: Kent Carter on bass and Bill Elgart on drums, both veterans of the 1964 October Revolution in Jazz, who have since carved niches for themselves in Europe. Carter 's early exposure arrived ...
Roil: Raft of the Meadows
by John Sharpe
Established in 2007, Roil comprises three Australians from the Sydney jazz scene, sharing pianist Chris Abrahams with that other better known Antipodean combo The Necks. Like that last outfit Roil manifests as an egalitarian concern, continuing in the lineage trailblazed by Bill Evans in the 1960s via Howard Riley's trio with Barry Guy a decade later. ...
Rashied Al Akbar / Muhammad Ali / Earl Cross / Idris Ackamoor: Ascent of the Nether Creatures
by John Sharpe
The Lithuanian based No Business label deserves an award for its unstinting documentation of the loft jazz scene in NYC during the 1970s and early '80s. Often characterized as a time when nothing was happening, the reality couldn't be further from the truth. With the influx of new talent from the mid-West and California, the performance ...
Matthew Shipp: I've Been To Many Places
by John Sharpe
In 2013 pianist Matthew Shipp, tongue firmly-in-cheek, issued Greatest Hits, which sampled his Thirsty Ear catalogue. With I've Been To Many Places, his 9th solo album, he takes a different approach to revisiting his back pages, by reprising standards and favorites from previous releases albeit this time in an unaccompanied rendition. These sit alongside a selection ...
Daniel Blacksberg Trio: Perilous Architecture
by John Sharpe
Philly-based Dan Blacksberg may not be well known (though he is a founding member of Anthony Braxton's Tri-Centric Orchestra). But on the evidence of Perilous Architecture, a limited edition LP which constitutes the second release by his trio, that won't be the case for long. While not novel, trombone lead outfits remain far from everyday occurrences. ...
Frank Lowe: Out Loud
by John Sharpe
In the spring of 1974, the storied ESP label had just released the leadership debut of thirty-year old reedman Frank Lowe, and now he was considering his next move. Val Wilmer in her groundbreaking As Serious As Your Life (Quartet Books, 1977) observes about Lowe: “Everywhere you go in New York you'll run into him, working ...
Variable Density Sound Orchestra: Evolving Strategies
by John Sharpe
The constituent parts of guitarist Garrison Fewell's Variable Density Sound Orchestra shifted gradually between its eponymous inception (Creative Nation, 2008) and sophomore effort on Sound Particle 47 (Creative Nation, 2010). Inevitably there will be further changes in the future if the unit continues, as both trumpeter Roy Campbell and reedman John Tchicai have passed on since ...
William Hooker & Liudas Mockūnas: Live at Vilnius Jazz Festival
by John Sharpe
Veteran drummer William Hooker continues to expand his varied discography on the No Business imprint, with the addition of Live At Vilnius Jazz Festival. Like Crossing Points (2011) with the late reedman Thomas Chapin, it's a meeting with a resourceful saxophonist -this time Liudas Mockūnas, a co-founder of the label. But unlike the former encounter, on ...
Seth Meicht and the Big Sound Ensemble: Live in Philadelphia
by John Sharpe
Philly tenor saxophonist Seth Meicht has created a crack little big band which combines nifty arrangements and adventurous expression in his Big Sound Ensemble. Meicht has largely passed under the critical radar since Illumine (CIMP, 2006), surfacing only for the occasional high profile gig in NYC, including the 2009 Vision Festival. This recording in front of ...
John Sharpe's Best Releases of 2014
by John Sharpe
Here are eleven new releases, reviewed at All About Jazz, which stood out from those I heard this year, in no special order. Nicole Mitchell The Secret Escapades of Velvet Anderson (Rogue Art Records) Sonic Projections must be flautist Nicole Mitchell's hardest blowing band. On their second outing she ...
