Home » Search Center » Results: Karl Ackermann
Results for "Karl Ackermann"
Indigo Kid II: Fist Full Of Notes
by Karl Ackermann
At the risk of implying that the very selective UK-based Babel Label has gone “mainstream," they have--of late--issued a number of releases that certainly have a broader appeal. A homage to Bill Evans Postcard to Bill Evans (2015) and vocalist Emilia Mårtensson's fine Ana (2014), now share a catalog with cutting edge artists like pianist Alexander ...
Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin: Ichigo Ichie
by Karl Ackermann
If there is any doubt that a Satoko Fujii orchestra is an ensemble of a different color, one simply needs to look at the bleeding-edge personnel that have played a part in her New York, Chicago and several Japan based versions. Now a Berlin variety of her troupe presents Ichigo Ichie, the pianist's first European player ...
Satoko Fujii Tobira: Yamiyo Ni Karasu
by Karl Ackermann
If ever there were a restless musical spirit, it would be pianist, composer (and occasional accordionist) Satoko Fujii. The Japanese artist has issued more than sixty recordings in settings from solo to full orchestra and most everything in between. While she demonstrates virtuosic straight-ahead balladry on occasion, her preference has long leaned toward unorthodox improvisation. Fujii ...
Maria Schneider Orchestra: The Thompson Fields
by Karl Ackermann
At the time Maria Schneider released Evanescence (Enja, 1994), big band jazz--especially in the US--was overly predictable and indecisively hanging on like ballroom music in a ghost town. Schneider, while embracing the best practices of earlier legendary big band leaders and her mentors, Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer, had added unconventional elements to her own compositions. ...
A Bu Trio: 88 Tones of Black and White
by Karl Ackermann
China is rarely thought of as a geographic source of jazz from the perspective of westerners, partly due to a less than robust presence of the genre and partly because the country remains closed off in many respects. In the past ten years or so, only a handful of “jazz" recordings have come out of the ...
Amir ElSaffar: Crisis
by Karl Ackermann
Chicago area native, Amir ElSaffar has been working inside and outside the typical context of jazz since his Two Rivers Ensemble debut, Two Rivers (PI Recordings, 2007). The trumpeter and composer (and master santour player) has built a unique musical architecture based his study of the microtonal techniques of his ancestral Iraqi maqam. While ElSaffar was ...
John Yao: Flip-Flop
by Karl Ackermann
On his 2012 debut, trombonist John Yao navigated multiple complex territories ranging from the experimental to traditional balladry. A regular presence on the New York scene, Yao has worked with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. Having absorbed those big band sensibilities, Yao graduates from his inaugural quintet to a seventeen-piece ensemble. ...
Maciej Fortuna Acoustic Quartet: Jazz From Poland Vol. 1
by Karl Ackermann
Polish composer and trumpeter Maciej Fortuna--a law school graduate and a PhD of performing arts--distributes his time as a session musician, multiple group leader and lecturer at The Academy of Music in Poznan, Poland. Fortuna has been exploring the frontiers of jazz for some time with successful efforts in electronica, free improvisation, ethnic derivatives and acoustic ...
Max Johnson, Kirk Knuffke, Ziv Ravitz: Something Familiar
by Karl Ackermann
New York native Max Johnson does not appear to require sleep. The bassist/composer, whose career spans the wide terrain from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra to Lollapalooza to Anthony Braxton consistently delivers fresh, adventurous, high-quality music against an ambitious output. With his now-regular working trio of Kirk Knuffke on cornet and drummer Ziv Ravitz, the group has released ...
Yells at Eels: In Quiet Waters
by Karl Ackermann
It would seem that trumpeter Dennis González could easily find a place among the better-known artists in jazz were it not for a deep commitment to making generally undefinable music and priorities that include putting his academic and literary responsibilities out front. From the time of his first release as a leader, Air Light (Sleep Sailor) ...
