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Eli Wallace: Pieces & Interludes
by Karl Ackermann
At his most experimental, pianist & composer Eli Wallace has sufficient preparations to obscure almost all the natural sounds of the piano. That has often been the case across a portfolio of half-a-dozen leader or co-leader releases, but Wallace's solo album Pieces & Interludes is a singular enigma. The California native, now Brooklyn-based, Wallace ...
Dino Duo: J.A. Deane & Jason Kao Hwang: Uncharted Faith
by Karl Ackermann
The idiosyncratic nature of Jason Kao Hwang's work lends itself to a broad range of collaborative possibilities. Uncharted Faith, a duo recording with electronics artist J.A. Deane, is unique because of both its experimental essence and its personal backstory. Deane (aka, Dino) lost his life-partner in 2019 and went into wooded seclusion to finish a book. ...
Stefano Travaglini: Book of Innocence
by Karl Ackermann
With Book of Innocence, Stefano Travaglini and Achille Succi have released an inspired recording and it is something quite beyond convention. Stefano came to my attention in 2017 with his extraordinarily wide-ranging solo album Ellipse (Notami Jazz, 2017), his first leader recording. Another outstanding solo outing came in 2020 with Monk—Fifteen Piano Reflections (Notami Jazz). A multi-instrumentalist and composer, Stefano's ...
Ten Essential Keith Jarrett Solo Recordings
by Karl Ackermann
Keith Jarrett is a perfectionist. Perfection and innovation are, more often than not, mutually exclusive qualities and that is where Jarrett reveals his unique strain of genius. He remains the most respected and influential figure in the world of jazz, improvisation, and beyond. Despite two strokes that have permanently left him unable to play piano, his ...
Sebastian Rochford / Kit Downes: A Short Diary
by Karl Ackermann
London-based drummer Sebastian Rochford (aka, Seb) and pianist Kit Downes have a long working history but have recorded only once as a duo on the EP Live @ The Vortex (Loop Collective, 2012). They reunite on the poignant and cerebral A Short Diary. Rochford began his relationship with ECM Records as part of the Andy Sheppard-led ...
Mette Henriette: Drifting
by Karl Ackermann
Norwegian saxophonist and composer Mette Henriette established herself as a major talent while in her teens, becoming a vital member of the country's creative music community. She was in the Aello trio and the Torg ensemble and worked with a broad array of artists including Sidsel Endresen, Karin Krog and Tim Berne. In 2015 Henriette released ...
Arild Andersen Group: Affirmation
by Karl Ackermann
For almost half a century, Arild Andersen has been a pillar of Manfred Eicher's ECM label. His ECM albums have traversed dissimilar territory, from the brooding Shimri (1976), the folk-influenced Sagn (1990), to the orchestral grandeur of Live at Belleville (2008). At seventy-seven, the Norwegian bassist offers the almost entirely improvised Affirmation. Andersen is joined by ...
Karl Ackermann's Best Creative Music Albums Of 2022
by Karl Ackermann
For good, or bad, the “new normal" can finally be archived, and the club doors reopened to full rooms of unmasked patrons. 2022 marked an informal end to the Pandemic and a rebirth in live performing arts. Like similar periods in history, an unusual burst of creative energy followed isolation. Jazz was no exception; the resilience ...
Ahmad Jamal: Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse
by Karl Ackermann
2022 marks the ninety-second year of pianist and composer Ahmad Jamal. An NEA Jazz Master and Grammy winner, in 2007 he was designated a Kennedy Center honoree as a Living Jazz Legend. His first release was The Three Strings (Epic, 1951) and, throughout that decade, he recorded a dozen albums, all in a piano trio format. ...
Greg Stuart: Subtractions
by Karl Ackermann
Percussionist Greg Stuart is afflicted with focal dystonia, a neurological disorder which limits the motor function of one hand. Despite that physical challenge, Stuart has undertaken a sweeping and ambitious percussion album which goes beyond the traditional drum kit. He has co-led more than a dozen recordings including an impressive debut with bassist Barre Phillips. Subtractions ...
