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Results for "Mark Corroto"
Chadbourne/Dresser/Ibarra/Morris: Pain Pen
by Mark Corroto
There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but there is free-jazz and Eugene Chadbourne has been one of its stars for many years. He has worked with every free jazz musician, plus Camper Van Beethoven, They Might Be Giants, and John Zorn. Likewise, Boston guitarist Joe Morris has been making waves of late ...
Jamie Saft: Sovlanut
by Mark Corroto
Keyboardist Jamie Saft’s inclusion in Tzadik records Radical Jewish Culture series is more radical than Jewish. The title Sovlanut means tolerance. From Saft’s multi-cultured Brooklyn home tolerance is the order of the day. The exploration of his Jewish-ness is through the filters of his neighborhood, which happens to be drum-n-bass and dub. Saft is the Jewish ...
Kevin Breit & Cyro Baptista: Supergenerous
by Mark Corroto
More or less I Agree Less is more. For a duo collaboration effort known as Supergenerous, less is more than enough. Canadian guitarist Kevin Breit and Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptiste teamed with producer Craig Street (the mind behind Cassandra Wilson’s successful Blue Note albums) to tailor a minimalist jazz/country/folk/funk session. Baptiste, and Breit who supplied the ...
Jim Connolly & The Gove County Philharmonic: The Circus Doesn't Stop At Gove
by Mark Corroto
Just like today’s DJs and rappers, Jim Connolly’s disc opens with the crackle of a diamond needle on vinyl. The rappers use it to signify authenticity; Connolly employs scratchy sounds to set the scene, as in a play. Maybe it’s Musicman, or Oklahoma. A closer inspection reveals this play to be closer to a Jim Jarmusch ...
Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: The Great Summit: Complete Sessions
by Mark Corroto
Jazz fans are a lot like sports fanatics. Just as we would turn out to see the now seventy year-old Arnold Palmer shoot over par or Willie Mays play in an old timers game, we cherish the recordings of elder jazzmen. In 1961, the sixty-somethings Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong got together for two days of ...
Peter Epstein Quartet: The Invisible
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist Peter Epstein changes sound and form as needed for the different lives he leads. In one prior life he sits in a cathedral alone, playing for the gods (see this month’s review of Solus ), in another he wears a Downtown existence in Jerry Granelli’s Badlands. Then there’s his Portuguese folk/jazz (see review of Almas), ...
Joel Frahm: The Navigator
by Mark Corroto
Joel Frahm’s second disc as leader has all the trappings of a John Coltrane legacy recording. Sure that’s a heavy burden, but one he proves worthy. Like his 1999 disc Sorry, No Decaf, Frahm mines hard-bop with a self-admission (like Coltrane) that he is not comfortable on up-tempo tunes. Fine, grace not speed signifies great art. ...
Spaceways Incorporatd: Vandermark/Drake/McBride: Thirteen Cosmic Standards
by Mark Corroto
With the news and financial security from receiving the MacArthur Genius Grant behind him, all eyes turn to Ken Vandermark in anticipation of his next move. The one-time Hal Russell apprentice is equally at home in free jazz settings (Caffeine), rocked-out noise bands (Flying Luttenbachers), and inside composed groups (Vandermark 5). His last effort Design In ...
Porterhouse Quintet: Thumbs Up little Buddy
by Mark Corroto
Sometimes a band comes along that defines a time, plants a flag as a marker of human musical evolution on this planet. The Porterhouse Quintet is just such a band, but the time is circa 1975. Porterhouse resurrects a time when fusion meant jazz/funk not jazz/rock or today’s jazz/cheese. Grover Washington’s Mister Magic was the vinyl ...
Lemeshev/Shepik/Scherr: Tridruga
by Mark Corroto
Apologies to Huey Lewis, but it is indeed so very hip to be square these days. Instruments like the clarinet and accordian are making their way back into jazz today. The trio of ‘three friends’ is a translation of Tridruga and at its very hip center is accordionist Yuri Lemeshev. Guitarist Brad Shepik, a fan of ...


