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Results for "New & Noteworthy"
March 2007
by Glenn Astarita
Age Of NemesisTerra IncognitaMagna Carta2006 This Hungarian progressive-metal band excels in the composition department. There's a plot which involves a girl who connects with an angel to visit the afterlife, and the album's overall theme mines the phantasmagorical seam so often favoured by prog-metal outfits. That aside, the quintet conveys ...
February 2007
by Glenn Astarita
John Carter/Bobby Bradford QuartetSeekingHatology2006 Recorded in Los Angeles back in 1969, this reissue is good enough to be classified as desert-island fare. Originally part of the co-operative New Art Jazz Ensemble, the late multi-woodwind musician/composer John Carter and trumpeter Bobby Bradford present a hip and ultra-modern vision of West Coast ...
January 2007
by Glenn Astarita
Walter BeasleyReady For LoveHeads Up2006 Saxophonist/composer Walter Beasley is one of the real superstars of contemporary or smooth jazz. With several producers and a tight accompanying ensemble, he offers sounds of romance and in-the-pocket grooves. As an alto and soprano technician, Beasley sports a sweet-toned and silky-smooth delivery atop savory ...
December 2006
by Glenn Astarita
Richard Pinhas Metatron Cuneiform 2006French guitarist and electronics wiz Richard Pinhas' soars to lofty heights on his latest album, a double-disc fiesta. He sports a blazingly fuzzed-out sound, marked by scorching single note runs and inventive sound manipulation and distortion. Pulsating, asymmetrical rhythms play a key role in ...
November 2006
by Glenn Astarita
Joan SanmartiScandal?Satchmo Jazz2006 Veteran Spanish jazz guitarist Joan Sanmarti and his quintet venture towards classic, hard-bop, swing and excursions into the free zone during this rather jaunty session. With Frederic Carlquist and Victor de Diego providing a dual-core saxophone attack, the leader's fluent lines and solid compositional acumen intimate arching ...
October 2006
by Glenn Astarita
Spontaneous Music EnsembleBiosystempsi2006 A re-issue of the original 1977 Incus LP featuring thirty-five additional minutes of previously unreleased music. Drummer and cornetist John Stevens' groundbreaking freedom-of-expression unit is given some nice packaging, featuring historical factoids by Ian Vickers and former SME member, saxophonist Evan Parker. The band itself was akin ...
September 2006
by Glenn Astarita
Chet Doxas QuartetSidewalk EtiquetteJustin Time2006 Twenty-five year old saxophonist Chet Doxas surges onward as one of Canada's modern jazz young lions. Here with his quartet, Doxas blends a slightly retro, jazz-fusion vibe with shifting rhythms and straight-ahead swing vamps, and the band's forthright gait certainly packs a punch. Doxas himself ...
August 2006
by Glenn Astarita
John Wolf BrennanPictures In A GalleryLeo Records2006 Pianist John Wolf Brennan recorded the mostly brief works on this album on location in Swiss and Russian museums. Composing on-the-fly, he took inspiration from hanging artworks by Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso and other masters. As a pianist, he creates an attractive hybrid ...
July 2006
by Glenn Astarita
Mike Keneally BandGuitar Therapy LiveExowax2006 Guitarists Mike Keneally (right channel) and Rick Musallam (left channel) steer a high-impact progressive rock slugfest on this genuinely exciting live date, which is chock-full of knotty time signatures and propulsive rhythmic explosions; Keneally sweetens the boiling pot with heartwarming lead vocals. The quartet soars ...
June 2006
by Glenn Astarita
Wittwulf Y Malik & Ge-Suk YooWhite RoomArt2006 On this album German cellist Wittwulf Y Malik and Korean vocalist Ge-Suk Yoo pursue minimalism, sparked by echoing avant tonalities, in an exhibition hall that's awash with crystalline acoustics. Yoo's vocal chants and electro-acoustic sounds offset his counterpart's nimble plucking, and this session ...
