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Either/Orchestra: Afro-Cubism
by Mark Corroto
The Either/Orchestra has always been a little big band for those of us who don’t particularly like big band jazz. Founded in 1985 by saxophonist Russ Gershon, the E/O has played nimble arrangements of everything from Duke Ellington to Bob Dylan. The orchestra draws equally from Sun Ra, Gil Evans, Frank Zappa and Dizzy Gillespie’s big ...
Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet: The Year Of The Elephant
by Mark Corroto
The aptly named Golden Quartet is either dubbed for the golden years of these four jazzmen, or perhaps it is the simple musical lines they have spun into an alloy of precious sound. The quartet’s impressive resume is beyond doubt. Wadada Leo Smith was a member of Chicago’s AACM and bands of Anthony Braxton ...
Cheek/Iverson/Street/Rossy: Lazy Afternoon/Guilty
by Mark Corroto
Preconceived ideas about musical lineups (and just about everything), often lead to disappointment. Maybe it’s just the times we live in, or our subconscious reliance on marketing. Reading the lineups of these two live sessions, I was fully expecting deconstructed renditions of jazz classics. The results, although unforeseen, were ultimately satisfying. The youthful ...
Seamus Blake/The Bloomdaddies: Mosh For Lovers
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist Seamus Blake asks the musical question: why can’t jazz musicians be rock stars too? His band Bloomdaddies delivers the answer: The square root of pi cannot be written with much certainty. In other words, rocks stars are rock stars because of the swagger factor, not (in most cases) musicianship. The Bloomdaddies have plenty ...
Ben Perowsky: Bop On Pop
by Mark Corroto
Frank Perowsky says to his son “Ben, how about a nice game of catch.” If you think of football as brother against brother knocking heads, then baseball is a game of fathers and sons. On Bop On Pop we get a nice game of catch, as Ben, Frank and Sam Yahel toss the old standards around. ...
Blume/Denley/Dorner/Mattos/Wachsmann: Lines In Australia
by Mark Corroto
If I were to tell you that the free Improvisational troupe known as Lines wholly captures the essence of the country on Lines In Australia, I’d be lying. Nothing the quintet does places them in, or downunder. But then again not much of free form music has textbook or geographical context. This recording, ...
Kahil El'Zabar Trio: Love Outside Of Dreams
by Mark Corroto
African-American music (and African music for that matter) has always been about groove, movement, and that internal mechanism in your chest (perhaps your heart) that undulates and sways to the beat. In jazz, the rhythm catches you. If you explore further, melody and improvisation demands your surrender to this religion.For more than 25 years, ...
John Rapson: Water And Blood: The Billy Higgins Improvisations
by Mark Corroto
The complex idea behind John Rapson’s Water and Blood, The Billy Higgins Improvisations actually yields some simple and unassuming results. Rapson, whose trombone work has graced the California creative scene for twenty years, realized his idea to record drummer Billy Higgins’ solos and later overlay different players in a collaborative effort. He worked ...
Joe Robinson Quartet: While I'm Waiting
by Mark Corroto
Sitting on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, I won’t begin to expound on the politics of British jazz. All but ignored by Ken Burns’ Jazz series, you have to wonder if they have the equivalent of our Stanley Crouch and Wynton Marsalis show? Nonetheless, let us take this disc by the Joe Robinson Quartet free ...
Myles Boisen: Scrambledisc
by Mark Corroto
Tracking the musical interests of guitarist Myles Boisen finds him moving from order to increasing hubbub. His output with the West Coast band Splatter Trio, although never staid, evolved (or de-evolved) from the punk-jazz roots into a series of cut-up statements. Their final work Hi-Fi Junk Note (Rastascan 1995) is still being pieced together by a ...
