Results for "John Wojciechowski"

John Wojciechowski

Saxophonist John Wojciechowski is an urban musician through and through. He grew up and developed his powerful tenor sound in Detroit—“a really rich community with a lot of great players,” he says—and since 2002 has thrived in Chicago, working alongside some of the best players in the city. So why does he live way the heck out in the Windy City’s western suburbs in a place called Bartlett—where it takes a good half-hour to even reach one of the highways leading into the city? And does being so far away from the action have an impact on his music? The answer to the first question is that “Wojo,” as he is known, teaches high school in the historic river town of St

Originations

By RYAN COHAN

Label: Origin Records
Released: 2020
Track listing: The Hours Before Dawn; Imaginary Lines; Heart; Sabra; A Seeker's Soul; Essence.

Imaginary Lines

Album: Originations
By RYAN COHAN
Label: Origin Records
Released: 2020
Duration: 7:39

Ryan Cohan: Originations

By PAUL RAUCH

There is a risk in creating art that reflects in essence, one's own personal journey. What that journey reveals within the context of one life may not carry the same value to a collective audience. In the case of Chicago based composer/pianist Ryan Cohan, his explorative delve into his own bi-cultural roots as presented on his ...

New Standard Jazz Orchestra: Waltz About Nothing

By JACK BOWERS

Any orchestra that professes to establish a new standard had better be able to back that up. Happily for the listener, on its debut recording, Waltz About Nothing, Chicago's New Standard Jazz Orchestra can--and does. In a little more than two years, the NSJO has arisen as a worthy successor to one of the more exemplary ...

Focus

By JOHN WOJCIECHOWSKI

Label: Origin Records
Released: 2015
Track listing: Focus; Call Of The Kingdom; Summon The Elders; Ternary; Elegy; Twirl; Evidence; Divided Man; The Listener; In Your Own Sweet Way.

John Wojciechowski: Focus

By DAN BILAWSKY

Every now and then you encounter a musician who has it together in so many ways, yet has largely managed to avoid national recognition. Saxophonist John Wojciechowski is one such player. While those with strong enough memories might recall that the Michigan-bred Wojciechowski took third place--behind Jon Gordon and Jimmy Greene--at the 1996 ...

Ian Torres Big Band: January

By JACK BOWERS

In the interest of brevity, the name of Chicago-based trumpeter Ian Torres' debut album as shown above has been abridged. For the record, the complete title is January: The Birth and Development of the Ian Torres Big Band. The “Birth" is depicted in the first five numbers, recorded in 2008-09, “Development" in the last half-dozen, recorded ...

In Tune or Not in Tune... That Is the Question

By JACK BOWERS

Suppose a month goes by, you have a column to publish, but nothing has happened that's worth writing about. What do you do then? Read on, as the question is about to be answered. A while back there was a discussion at a Stan Kenton web site (Kentonia) about musicians or groups of ...