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Alexander Hawkins Ensemble: Step Wide, Step Deep
by Karl Ackermann
As he did on his fine solo piano release Song Singular (Babel, 2014), Alexander Hawkins takes his newly formed ensemble on a path that blurs the perceptions of composition and free improvisation. Step Wide, Step Deep floats free of implications and becomes its own entity. The ensemble establishes a rich and unique setting, sometimes disquieting, sometimes ...
Miles Davis: We Want Miles (Bonus Track Version)
by Karl Ackermann
The audaciously titled We Want Miles has one of the more interesting histories in the catalog of trumpeter Miles Davis. Originally released by Columbia Records in 1982, it was not made widely available outside of Japan where it was recorded live in 1981. For those who managed to find it, it was both celebrated and vilified. ...
Max Johnson Trio: The Invisible Trio
by Karl Ackermann
The musical lineage within the small circle of bassist Max Johnson's trio is unquestionably among the finest in cutting-edge jazz. The leader has played with bassist William Parker, alto legend Anthony Braxton, trombonist Steve Swell and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. In the case of Johnson's current trio, his drummer, Ziv Ravitz, is also a member of the ...
Alexander Hawkins: Song Singular
by Karl Ackermann
The concurrent releases of pianist/composer Alexander Hawkins solo and ensemble recordings demonstrate the up-and-coming artist's exceptional range of compositional skills across dissimilar formats. The young Oxford, UK native has been a much sought after sideman, working with free jazz sax legend Evan Parker, saxophonist Joe McPhee and renowned South African drummer, Louis Moholo-Moholo. Hawkins is also ...
Bohren & der Club of Gore: Piano Nights
by Karl Ackermann
Of the many hard-to-define sub-genres of jazz, “dark jazz" may be the most challenging to classify. Exemplifying the category is Bohren & der Club of Gore's Piano Nights . The German quartet, whose members have a variety of doom metal origins, has morphed their earlier inclinations into a hybrid that has little to suggest the player's ...
Arshak Sirunyan: Hoodman's Blind
by Karl Ackermann
Pianist/composer Arshak Sirunyan's Hoodman's Blind is likely to be one of the most unique and compelling releases of the year. The Armenian born musician was a finalist in that country's prestigious National J. S. Bach Concerto Competition in 1994. Now a Washington DC resident, he has assembled a top-tier ensemble of award-winning artists from around the ...
Maciej Fortuna / Krzysztof Dys: Tropy
by Karl Ackermann
It remains largely unrecognized that the Polish jazz culture predates Louis Armstrong's “invention" of modern improvised jazz. As early as 1923, Polish jazz musicians were touring Eastern Europe in the company of Chicago and New Orleans Dixieland players. The American perspective of Polish jazz is principally defined by trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, violinist Michal Urbaniak and pianist ...
Frank Wess: Magic 201
by Karl Ackermann
Despite a career that spanned more than half of a century, Frank Wess was not a household name. The flautist/saxophonist spent the 1950s and 60s playing with some of the best known big bands in the U.S. including those of Billy Eckstine, Count Basie and Clark Terry. During that period he was primarily recognized as a ...
Jason Kao Hwang / Ayman Fanous: Zilzal
by Karl Ackermann
The duo release--Zilzal--further defines the evolution of two master musician/composers pursing the most imaginative alternatives to the status quo. In recent years, the inventive violinist/violist Jason Kao Hwang has been fully invested in exploring diverse compositional territories. His Burning Bridge octet is now firmly entrenched as a bellwether of genre-defying modern music with a distinct jazz ...
1032K: That Which Is Planted
by Karl Ackermann
When trumpeter/ trombonist Frank Lacy appeared with the Mingus Big Band this past summer at the Caramoor Jazz Festival, he stole the show in the company of fourteen top-shelf musicians. The live performance venue in which Lacy thrives isn't diminished in the smaller group setting as proven out in the 1032K trio debut That Which Is ...
