Results for "Play This!"

Joe Zawinul and the Zawinul Syndicate: Zansa II

by Mike Jacobs
September 21, 2023

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society: Missing Parts

by Mike Jacobs
September 19, 2023

Like a few others (such as Maria Schneider and John Hollenbeck), Darcy James Argue seems bent on expanding the musical envelope of the big band via the instrumentation, repertoire and approach of his Secret Society. Though this piece from their 2013 Brooklyn Babylon project was designed to be heard in tandem with the highly stylized visuals ...

Jeff Beck: People Get Ready

by Geno Thackara
September 13, 2023

In the hands of Jeff Beck, a guitar could sing or cry as eloquently as a person, and an unexpected cover might become a fun rock-fusion chestnut with a new paint job. Curtis Mayfield's soul classic turns out to have all kinds of beautiful shades waiting to be drawn out by a solid and clever band ...

Charlie Watts: Jazz Anthology

by Pedro Keul
August 30, 2023

Charlie Watts left this world in 2021, at age 80, and many only know him as the legendary Rolling Stones drummer of six decades. Lesser known was his passion for jazz--that he expressed every chance he could--recording ten albums as a leader. This extensive retrospective released in 2023 presents 27 themes recorded in a 20 year ...

Leléka: Ruzha

by Geno Thackara
August 29, 2023

While this Berlin-based quartet is half steeped in the modern European jazz world, the other half of their sound comes from namesake Viktoria Leléka's roots in Ukrainian folk. The blend can be classy, dramatic, thoughtful, quietly hopeful... or in the case of this little romp, bright as sunrise. Some jaunty rolling piano hooks the ear and ...

Wayne Shorter Quartet: Aung San Suu Kyi

by Ian Patterson
August 25, 2023

Any day is a good day to listen to Wayne Shorter. “Aung San Suu Kyi," from the 2003 Montreal Jazz Festival, captures Shorter's celebrated quartet of Danilo Perez, Brian Blade and John Patitucci in scintillating form. From its birth in 2000 until Shorter's retirement from the stage in 2018, this line-up took improvised small ensemble playing ...

Shakti: Joy

by Ian Patterson
August 17, 2023

Nobody had seen anything quite like it before. Thrilling virtuosity from fusion pioneers Shakti at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival. In bringing both Carnatic and Hindustani traditions together with jazz, John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, L. Shankar and T.H. “Vikku" Vinayakram broke new musical ground. Shakti marked 50 years in 2023 with This Moment (Abstract Logix), its ...

Ben Wendel High Heart: Drawn Away

by Mike Jacobs
August 11, 2023

Jon Herington: City Of Lights

by Mike Jacobs
August 10, 2023

"City of Lights" has a bit of lineage. From Jon Herington's Pulse And Cadence (ESC, 2008)--which itself is a reissue/repackage of his Japan-only debut album The Complete Rhyming Dictionary (Glass House, 1993)--the song was originally titled “Paris On Mine" and is a musical retort/homage to the John McLaughlin classic “New York On My Mind" [from Electric ...

Wayne Krantz: One Of Two

by Mike Jacobs
August 9, 2023

While the whole of Wayne Krantz's Signals (Enja, 1990) is a bit too impressive a debut to be called prototypical, the origins for what would become the meat of the guitarist's stylistic identity lie in “One Of Two." Along with its companion piece (the cleverly-titled “Two Of Two"), this solo performance is arguably the first recorded ...