Home » Search Center » Results: Mark Sullivan
Results for "Mark Sullivan"
Latin Jazz Roundup: Mike Freeman ZonaVibe, Terceto Kali, Will Jarvis, Livio Almeida, & Sergio Pereira
by Mark Sullivan
A wide variety of recent Latin jazz releases. Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and flamenco influences are all represented. Mike Freeman ZonaVibe Blue Tjade VOF Recordings 2015 Vibraphonist Mike Freeman leads his ZonaVibe group through an exciting program of Latin jazz originals on his sixth album as leader. The title tune ...
Sinikka Langeland: The Magical Forest
by Mark Sullivan
Norwegian singer and kantele player Sinikka Langeland leads her Norwegian-Finnish-Swedish Starflowers quintet through a series of songs built upon myths and legends from Finnskogen, the forested area in eastern Norway bordering Sweden where Langeland has been based since 1992. The name means “forest of the Finns," reflecting the history of Finnish migration to the place during ...
Nobuki Takamen: Live in Japan
by Mark Sullivan
When last heard from, guitarist/composer Nobuki Takamen had released his first solo album, Solo Guitar (2014). He is active on the New York scene, but has returned to his native Japan for an annual tour for many years. For his sixth album he has chosen to document live performances of his trio with bassist Toshiyuki Tanahashi ...
Guitars Galore: Major Vistas, Joe Policastro Trio, Dan Arcamone, Charlie Ballantine, Sound Underground, & Kay-Ta Matsuno
by Mark Sullivan
A brief overview of several notable 2016 contemporary jazz releases featuring guitarists. Major Vistas Minor Anthems Self Produced 2016 A fresh approach to the jazz trio, and the debut release from Madison, Wisconsin's Major Vistas. Keyboardist Mike Weiser says he thinks of it as a modern “organ" ...
Glauco Venier: Miniatures
by Mark Sullivan
Italian pianist Glauco Venier presents a delicate program of “Music for piano and percussion" on his first solo album for ECM. The approach came out of music Venier made for a documentary film about sculptor Giorgio Celiberti, which involved piano plus playing on “sonorous sculptures" (metal sculptures designed to also have sound qualities). For this recording ...
Miroslav Vitous: Music of Weather Report
by Mark Sullivan
Bassist Miroslav Vitous was a founding member of Weather Report, making him one of the architects of the highly improvisational approach taken by the original band. On his earlier album Remembering Weather Report (ECM, 2009) he evoked the spirit of the old band and its collective improvisational style (characterized by keyboardist Joe Zawinul as “No one ...
2016 Montreal Jazz Festival: June 29 - July 1, 2016
by Mark Sullivan
Festival International de Jazz de Montréal Montréal, Canada June 29-July 9, 2016 When they say the Montreal Jazz Festival is the biggest in the world, they're not kidding. Several city blocks full of concert venues, outdoor stages, and vendors. There are six seated concert venues on the grounds, and another six just ...
Golfam Khayam & Mona Matbou Riahi: Narrante
by Mark Sullivan
Iranian guitarist Golfam Khayam and clarinetist Mona Matbou Riahi--also known as the Naqsh Duo--bring a whole host of additional influences to bear on the Persian musical traditions they grew up with in the collaborative music on Narrante. Khayam explains that “the freshness and purpose of improvisation come mostly from the Persian side, while the careful structure ...
Wolfert Brederode Trio: Black Ice
by Mark Sullivan
Dutch pianist Wolfert Brederode returns to a piano trio format after the quartet albums Currents (ECM, 2007) and Post Scriptum (ECM, 2011). Not only a trio, but also new playing partners in bassist Gulli Gudmundsson and drummer Jasper van Hulten. While there's no radical stylistic shift with the new band--it's still mainly about mood and atmosphere--new ...
Dom Minasi & Jack DeSalvo: Soldani Dieci Anni
by Mark Sullivan
Guitarist Dom Minasi is known as an experimentalist and free player, so there is much in this set of acoustic duets with fellow guitarist Jack DeSalvo that will confound expectations. Opener “The Indelible Delible" is a free improvisation with the expected outside playing and flurries of notes--but there is also some delicate textural playing. Then Minasi's ...
