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Monterey Jazz Festival All-Star Group at Orange Co. Performing Arts Center on April 24
By Larry Taylor Always at the forefront of modern jazz, the one-and-only Monterey Jazz Festival has taken to the road with a roster of musical heavyweights representing today's very best including: nine-time Grammy-nominated and NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron on piano; Grammy-nominated Regina Carter on violin; Grammy winner Russell Malone on guitar; Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling; ...
Craig Handy: The Busiest Man In Jazz
by Robert Dugan
Saxophonist Craig Handy is a musician's musician. Those “in the know" know about him, which is why he's been a first call player in New York for over two decades. He is a careful, thoughtful improviser—expansive and precise. His solos build on a rich knowledge of the tradition at the same time as they often set ...
Michael Janisch: Purpose Built
by Woodrow Wilkins
The first notes of Purpose Built's opening track draw attention, setting up a pleasurable jaunt into the world of Michael Janisch on this 30 year-old bassist's debut as a bandleader. Born in the United States and now residing in London, England, Janisch is skilled at both the acoustic and the electric bass. He has ...
Michael Janisch: Purpose Built
by J Hunter
At a glance, Purpose Built, bassist Michael Janisch's debut as a leader, looks like a big-band session. The roster on the back of the CD case is not just stocked with notables, it's a long list of notables. As such, it would make sense to imagine this group arranged on risers, pinning the studio's needles as ...
Matt Slocum: Portraits
by Mark F. Turner
Matt Slocum's multicolored traps--at times forceful or delicate, creatively painting varied tempos with the essence of swing--define the drummer's debut, Portraits. Hailing from St. Paul, Minnesota, Slocum's introduction carries forward the torch of patriarchs Max Roach and Elvin Jones amongst others, but he also carves out his own rhythmic patterns with young contemporaries such as Eric ...
Joe Locke: Versatile Vibes Master
by R.J. DeLuke
Jazz has a history of inclusiveness, accepting the influences of music from around the globe. It also knows no boundaries when it comes to instrumentation, accommodating all kinds of axes if they are played in the spirit of jazz. Rufus Harley even brought the unlikely bagpipes into the lexicon, playing the sound of surprise on the ...
David A. Orthmann's Top Releases of 2009
by David A. Orthmann
It's impossible to do justice to all of the fine new music issued in 2009. So I've listed ten of the discs that had the greatest impact on me. Each one includes the name of the drummer who was essential in making the music special. Joe Locke and David Hazeltine Mutual ...
Michael Janisch: Purpose Built
by Chris May
Since moving to Britain from the US in 2005, bassist Michael Janisch has put much of his energy into collaborative projects involving musicians from the two countries. It's hardly a radical idea, but it's as good a shtick as any with which to carve a profile, and along with his prodigious instrumental talents, Janisch is an ...
Tom Harrell: Prana Dance
by David Adler
Following up his 2007 effort Light On (HighNote), trumpeter Tom Harrell continues to document his original compositional voice and uncommonly tight working band with Prana Dance. Again there's the youthful, hungry lineup of tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, pianist Danny Grissett and drummer Johnathan Blake, with long-serving Harrell stalwart Ugonna Okegwo digging in on bass. The material ...
Tom Harrell: Boundless Beauty
by Laurel Gross
Tom Harrell is an exceptional musician, known for his exquisite playing on trumpet and flugelhorn as well as for the many lyrical melodies, expressive harmonies and undeniably beautiful music he has composed for some 40 years and, happily, counting. Many famous colleagues, orchestras and big bands have recorded his original compositions and arrangements and among jazz ...
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