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Kenny Wheeler: Smatter
by Scott Lichtman
The song “Smatter," from trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, offers the chance to hear several grandmasters of jazz concoct high-energy music together. For Wheeler's debut on ECM Records, Gnu High (ECM, 1976), he gathered the creative forces of Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland on the album's three tracks. Gnu High would quickly be deemed a classic. ...
D.D. Jackson: I Call
by John Chacona
"I Call" is a poem about the immigrant's dilemma of identifying with two places but fully inhabiting neither, using the refrain, “a place that doesn't exist" to name this condition. Yet Quebec-born Toronto poet Choucri Paul Zemokhol's family came to Canada from the Middle East, a place that, even in the interval since the poem's publication ...
Branford Marsalis & Joey Calderazzo: Face on the Barroom Floor
by Scott Lichtman
On “Face on the Barroom Floor," the duo of Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo pay tribute to Wayne Shorter by distilling one of Shorter's most beautiful pieces into its essentials. The sentiment might be interpreted as “a lovelorn individual drinks himself into forgetfulness. We hope for a happier future for him." Marsalis and Calderazzo take the ...
Slow Poke: Listen Here
by Ludovico Granvassu
Here is a track in which the simmer might be low, but the temperature is definitely very high. “Listen Here" is a composition which Eddie Harris wrote and played with his, usual, fat groove. This, however, is a sultrier rendition by a band that made the savoring of each note, and the development of a hypnotic ...
Sam Wilkes: When I Can Read My Titles Clear
by Scott Lichtman
Bassist Sam Wilkes is known in jazz inner circles for the beauty of his instrumental sound. Immersing yourself in the flow of his ambient compositions, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that his electric bass is the bedrock of the harmony as well as the melody and rhythm in these songs. Wilkes also ...
Remembering Benny Golson: Killer Joe
by Ian Patterson
Benny Golson, one of Philadelphia's most famous jazz sons, died on 21 September, 2024. He was 95. One of the last giants of the golden age of jazz, Golson enjoyed a rich career as a leader, composer and arranger. His recording career as a leader spanned seven decades, from The Modern Touch (Riverside, 1958) to Horizon ...
John Coltrane And Johnny Hartman
by Ian Patterson
When little in the world seems to make much sense anymore, when all the noise, turmoil and strife is getting to be too much, there can be no better medicine than beautiful music to soothe the troubled mind. The pairing of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and baritone singer Johnny Hartman might have seemed like a left-field ...
