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Onilu: Estuary Stew
by Carl Medsker
The trio Onilu (which means drummers in the Yoruba language) utilizes a dizzying array of percussion instruments. Shekere, mbira, congas, batá drums, cajóns, alfaia, clave, clay drums, tympani, various idiophones, guagua, tongue drum, vibraphone, marimba and both electro-acoustic and standard drum kits are employed. Although used sparingly, a piano is also embraced as a valid member. ...
John Daversa: Junk Wagon
by Scott Lichtman
"Junk Wagon" is a singularly dynamic big band arrangement. It is a pretty wild ride, in fact. Composer/trumpeter John Diversa has completed three academic degrees in music, won numerous jazz awards, and performed with artists including Yellowjackets and Renee Olstead. His big band work truly stretches the players' chops and the listeners' ears. “Junk Wagon" opens ...
Sora Ichikawa: Straying in Alpacas
by Scott Lichtman
The song “Straying in Alpacas" is an immensely satisfying and hard-driving tune, filled with melodic turns, alto peals, rhythmic stops, and thundering walking bass lines. While it sounds as if it could come from Steps Ahead or Yellowjackets in an earlier era, the piece is actually a concoction of rising Japanese pianist Sora Ichikawa. Ichikawa released ...
James Brandon Lewis: Remember Brooklyn & Moki
by Carl Medsker
"Chasing Energy, and that energy can be any type" is how James Brandon Lewis describes his multifaceted musical journey (Jazzwise, November 2024). That journey has taken him through gospel, punk, chamber, blues, reggae, hip-hop, soul, post-bop and free jazz. Along the way, he made a detour to Morocco to study Gnawa music. Lewis integrates all of ...
Alina Bzhezhinska & Tony Kofi: Tabula Rasa-Blank Slate
by Ian Patterson
Having played together since 2015, harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and saxophonist Tony Kofi have developed a keen musical understanding. In 2024 they released the gorgeous duo album, Altera Vita (BBE Records), which moved the late Chris May to write: “This ineffably beautiful and restorative disc succeeds resoundingly in its mission statement. This is, say the duo, to ...
Danylo Vinarikov Ensemble: Ethiopian (DZ'OB Deconstruction)
by Ian Patterson
A danceable cocktail of Afro-Caribbean-cum-Latin rhythms, “Ethiopian" stems from a salsa-ish motif supplied by saxophonist and leader Danylo Vinarikov that burrows under the skin and refuses to budge. Vinarikov's tenor looks as old as the Carpathians, but his sound and that of his ensemble, whilst rooted in the jazz tradition, is refreshingly contemporary. Short and punchy ...
Kateryna Ziabliuk: 23 Ways To Forget Oneself
by Ian Patterson
The cryptically titled “23 Ways To Forget Oneself" will, if given the attention it deserves, spirit the listener away from their daily concerns--perhaps even forgetting themselves along the way--for just under nine minutes. Kateryna Ziabliuk works her keys like a sculptor, chiseling surely but steadily, gradually revealing a form--her increasingly fluid lines tinged with Ukrainian folk ...
Jon Cleary And The Absolute Monster Gentlemen: Go To The Mardi Gras
by Mike Jacobs
What better way to celebrate Fat Tuesday than with one of the reigning champion purveyors of that jazz/blues/funk gumbo the Crescent City is noted for. And even though it may be startling to learn that Mr. Cleary is a British expatriate, no one need check his papers. As this tune illustrates, his complete assimilation of the ...
