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Angelique Kidjo: Crosseyed and Painless
by Geno Thackara
How to tackle a high-energy classic packed with layers of overlapping rhythms? Perhaps by giving it some unexpected breathing space. Angelique Kidjo's Afro-chant treatment (much like the Talking Heads whole-album cover from which it comes) is just as intense as the source, but interestingly smolders more than burns, in a way rather more moody and bewitching. ...
World Saxophone Quartet: Take The 'A' Train
by Scott Lichtman
The World Saxophone Quartet has always created a buzz... literally. Pioneers in jazz woodwinds, WSO combined instrumental prowess with sophisticated orchestrations and a wide repertoire encompassing jazz standards, free jazz, blues, world rhythms, and politicized songs. The original group from the '70s and '80s featured Julius Hemphill and Oliver Lake on alto and soprano saxophones, David ...
Sun Ra Arkestra Directed By Marshall Allen: Marshall's Groove
by Ian Patterson
To celebrate the great Marshall Allen's 100th birthday, what better way than to immerse oneself in the all-enveloping, swinging, soaring, saxophone-singing, ensemble- roaring wonder that is “Marshall's Groove." After sixty-seven years in the Sun Ra Arkestra, and nearly thirty steering the ship since taking over the leadership role from John Gilmore, this occasion is not just ...
Säje: I Can't Help It
by Scott Lichtman
It is rare to encounter, an all-female, professional jazz vocal ensemble. The quartet säje (pronounced like “beige") not only has established itself in this genre with a Grammy nomination, but they raise the bar for all vocal groups. The singers--Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor, Erin Bentlage and Johnaye Kendrick--are practically telepathic in synchronizing their phrasing. Any big ...
Nicola Caminiti: Adam Arturo
by John Chacona
Every generation or so, a rhythm section comes along and changes the game. Think of Count Basie's “All-American Rhythm Section" with Freddie Green, Walter Page and Jo Jones, or Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams from Miles Davis' second great quintet. It's up to history to render the verdict about pianist Lex Korten, bassist Ben ...
Roxana Amed: A Prayer
by John Chacona
The U.S. recording career of Argentine-born vocalist Roxana Amed is a study in the frustration that assumptions about genre can create. Both 2021's Ontology and the following year's Unánime, released by Sony Music, were nominated for Latin Grammy Awards. That was well-deserved, yet these were also among the best jazz vocal recordings of those years. Her ...
Steps Ahead: Trains
by Scott Lichtman
"Trains" by Steps Ahead, represents an apex of a certain era of jazz-rock fusion. The band was a supergroup, featuring Michael Brecker on saxophone, Mike Mainieri on vibraphone and rotating top names filling out guitar, drums, bass and keys. By the mid-'80s, the band had evolved from an acoustic sound to one based more on synthesized ...
David Sanborn: First Song
by Ludovico Granvassu
There are many ways to remember David Sanborn and we decided to turn to the album that, in our conversation about his collaboration with Hal Willner, the legendary saxophonist described as his favorite, and also happens to be our favorite, Another Hand (Elektra Musician, 1991). It dates back to the time when Sanborn and Willner worked ...
Junius Paul: Asé
by Scott Lichtman
Bass lovers unite! For those who adore the dexterity, the groove, the sheer “plunk" of a crisply-recorded upright bass, check out “Asé" by Junius Paul. The piece opens with an anthemic motif that quickly transforms into a beehive of motion. Paul continues this jaw-dropping flurry of sound until he shifts into a modal groove that welcomes ...
