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Indian Ocean: Deep, Vast, Free-Flowing
by Bhasker Gupta
It's been five years since I first started listening to Indian Ocean. It's hard to believe that greater fame has eluded an impeccable and mature band that has been around for over 15 years with five albums under their belt. Labels are pointless, as the music stems from a rich cultural Indian background combining elements of ...
Dizzy Reece
by Clifford Allen
To grasp the art and life's work of trumpeter-composer-philosopher (not necessarily in that order) Alphonso Son “Dizzy Reece, a short biographical sketch and recording data, though not thrown completely out the window in terms of relevance, are only relevant insofar as one gets an idea of the artist as a whole. Facts of his birthplace (Kingston, ...
A Celebration of Sheila Jordan
by Andrew Rowan
In his collection of essays Shadow and Act, novelist Ralph Ellison writes about certain singers, female singers, who have “an uncanny ability to provoke our love. He continues, “Their simplest songs sing in our hearts like the remembered voices of old dear friends. Sheila Jordan is such a singer. The ability to sing ...
Mats Gustafsson
by Andrey Henkin
When reedman Mats Gustafsson is onstage but not playing, he stands with his legs apart, leaning over slightly. Close-cropped head back, stretching his mouth repeatedly and holding one of his horns almost like an axe, he rocks back and forth. Usually dressed in tight fitting black clothing, when he finally takes his turn to play, he ...
Von Freeman
by Terrell Kent Holmes
Chicago-based tenor man Von Freeman is jazz' answer to baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson: talented, respected by his peers, but still inexplicably underrated. Freeman's youthful buoyancy belies his 83 years, a threshold he crossed last month. When offered belated birthday wishes, Freeman playfully requested “Listen, let's make it 39, revealing a subscription to the Jack ...
The Humus of Don Cherry
by Clifford Allen
“If we're going to speak about words, we could talk about a word like 'aum.' Because you don't say the word 'aum,' you sing it. And you have to sing it where you use the 'a' as 'ah,' which is the throat. Then you're singing, sustaining the tone 'ah.' Then you go to the 'u,' and ...
Steve Lacy: Mr. Soprano
by Gilles Laheurte
(Notes for the Steve Lacy-Sound Legacy concert at Merkin Hall, New York City October 06, 2005)“The history of the soprano saxophone begins and ends with Steve Lacy. We owe it to him, him alone, with no help, struggling, white as snow, pure as crystal." ~ Marc-Edouard Nabe, ZigzagsThis bold statement from the ...
Michael Gotz & Farko Dosumov: The Road to Jazzuka
by AAJ Staff
By Katy BourneFarko Rustamovich Dosumov had no plans to go to the United States. The then 18 year-old was living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, going to college and playing bass in rock bands. The eventual goal was to move to Moscow with his identical twin brother, Fedor, and to form a band. When a musician ...
Benoit Delbecq
by AAJ Staff
By Ethan Iverson Luminous harmony, intellectual rigor, and modernist piano technique will be on display when French pianist Benoît Delbecq performs two nights early this month at Jazz Gallery. Although he has played improvised music festivals all over the world, these will be his first New York solo performances. Delbecq dramatically sets himself ...
Celebrating John Coltrane
by Terrell Kent Holmes
There are certain people whose lives and accomplishments are so monumental as to be beyond the scope and constraint of time. Saxophonist John Coltrane was such a person, one of the most revered, beloved, and influential musicians in history. Born September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, N.C., Coltrane was a constant sojourner, his relentless harmonic searches and ...
