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Article: Album Review

Vibes and Bass: Frantelunia

Read "Frantelunia" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
July 9, 2013

Other than vibraphonist Gary Burton's periodic duo collaborations with pianist Chick Corea, bassist Steve Swallow, and guitarist Ralph Towner, it's difficult to think of many examples of the vibraphones in a duo setting. Vibraphonist Walt Dickerson and pianist Sun Ra's overlooked album, Visions (Steeple Chase Records, 1978), is one exception, but they aren't too thick on ...

Article: Album Review

Gary Peacock / Marilyn Crispell: Azure

by John Kelman
July 1, 2013

Who leads a project is often nothing more than a matter of optics. Bassist Gary Peacock's name may come first on the cover of Azure, but there's no doubt that this is a collaborative affair, with pianist Marilyn Crispell an equal participant; the two even co-produced the recording, with label head Manfred Eicher nowhere to be ...

Article: Extended Analysis

Trilok Gurtu: Spellbound

by John Kelman
June 13, 2013

In a 35-year career that's stretched from Oregon and saxophonists Jan Garbarek and Charlie Mariano, to violinist Shankar and guitarists John McLaughlin and Nguyên Lê, Trilok Gurtu has established a very specific talent. Few kit drummers are as adept as Gurtu on tabla and the Indian konnakol vocal percussion tradition; conversely, few tablaists/konnakol experts are as ...

Article: Take Five With...

Take Five With Mike Davis

by AAJ Staff
May 20, 2013

Meet Mike Davis:Mike Davis has lived several distinct musical lives. He has been a student, a serious student of performance and of theory and of composition and of art. He has been a gig warrior, playing multiple shows in multiple styles on different instruments at different venues with different bands on the same day ...

Article: Extended Analysis

Paul Motian: Paul Motian (Old & New Masters Edition)

by John Kelman
April 17, 2013

In a time when leadership roles are being thrust increasingly upon young musicians who may have the chops, the technique and the theory, but not the experience, drummer Paul Motian could be considered a lesson in patience, in waiting for the right time, in holding off for the precise moment of readiness.It's not that ...

Article: Live Review

Burghausen Jazz Festival 2013

by John Kelman
March 26, 2013

Burghausen Jazz Festival Burghausen, Germany March 12-17, 2013 Located almost exactly halfway along the border of the province of Bavaria (located in Germany's southeast) and Austria, the town of Burghausen might seem an odd place for a jazz festival, especially one now celebrating its 44th year. But this town of just 18,000 people, ...

Article: Meet the Staff

Meet Dan Bilawsky

by AAJ Staff
April 25, 2013

I currently live in: Northport, NY I joined All About Jazz in: 2010 What made you decide to contribute to All About Jazz? I started writing for Jazz Improv/Jazz Inside Magazine in 2005 and continued writing for that publication until the summer of 2009. At that point, I took some time off ...

Article: Take Five With...

Take Five With Charley Rich

by AAJ Staff
March 3, 2013

Meet Charley Rich:Guitarist Charley Rich studied privately with notables Joe Monk and Harry Leahy. At Stony Brook, he focused on composition, studied with Richard Dyer-Bennet and then spent a year at Berklee College of Music. After college he played the club scene in NYC, performed for impresario Sid Bernstein, studied classical guitar with Jerry ...

Article: Interview

Eberhard Weber: Positive Pragmatism

by John Kelman
February 4, 2013

There are plenty of positives about getting older: wisdom, maturity and a more balanced outlook are just three of them. But it would be unrealistic to suggest that there aren't a few negatives thrown in there. When bassist Eberhard Weber woke up in his hotel room on the morning of April 23, 2007, in Berlin, Germany, ...

Article: Extended Analysis

Eberhard Weber: Resume

by John Kelman
January 7, 2013

You've got to admire German-born, France-resident bassist Eberhard Weber. Suffering a major stroke while on tour with Jan Garbarek in 2007--an association that went back more than 30 years, the two first collaborating on American guitarist/pianist Ralph Towner's Solstice (ECM, 1975) and Weber becoming the Norwegian saxophonist's bassist of choice beginning with Photo With Blue Sky, ...