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Unconventional Instruments

by Karl Ackermann
ECM regularly tops lists of the best jazz labels though their full name--Edition of Contemporary Music--would argue for a broader scope of content. A substantial number of their most popular albums, such as Carla Bley's Escalator Over The Hill (1974), Egberto Gismonti: Dança Dos Escravos (1989), Nils Petter Molvær's Khmer (1997), and many more, are not ...
Christopher Kunz & Florian Fischer: Die Unwucht

by Chris May
Saxophone and drums duos--usually that means tenor saxophone and drums--got serious in the mid 1960s, when pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Jimmy Garrison would lay out during performances by John Coltrane's classic quartet to allow Coltrane and drummer Elvin Jones to pursue their mutual shamanistic muse together. One such occasion is preserved on One ...
The Pandemic Sessions: Duos, Part 1

by Mark Corroto
After the initial shock of the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent lockdown, artists did what artists do. Unable to tour, many musicians created solo projects. Musicians, like other sentient beings though, crave contact, so when some of the most severe restrictions lifted, duos were formed and production returned. These small positive steps (note: some were recorded before ...
Adam Kahan: Capturing the Essence of Jazz in a Film

by Victor L. Schermer
Too many are the documentaries produced and directed in a formulaic way using archival clips, photos, and hastily staged interviews that are intended to make a series of facts evident and bring out a few key points. At their best, they give a reasonably realistic illustrated depiction of people, places, and things. That is why a ...
John Coltrane: Top Ten Live Albums

by Chris May
This article is a companion piece to John Coltrane: An Alternative Top Ten Albums, which listed ten albums widely regarded as essential items in John Coltrane's discography and discussed another ten of comparable importance. John Coltrane: Top Ten Live Albums narrows the focus to club and concert recordings. Coltrane's live performances had a ...
Instrumental Duos

by Karl Ackermann
The early days of jazz were not always harmonious. Converted dance orchestras often sounded like unbalanced acoustic junkyards; a single violin, cornet, trombone, clarinet, tuba, drums, banjo, and piano, all fighting for attention. The piano was meant to be the glue holding the shrill and boisterous elements together. In 1921 a prodigy pianist named Zez Confrey ...
John Coltrane: An Alternative Top Ten Albums

by Chris May
Miles Davis once said that you could recite the history of jazz in just four words: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker. To that you need to add two more: John Coltrane. A giant during his lifetime, Coltrane continues to shape jazz and inspire musicians decades after he passed. No other player has come remotely close to eclipsing ...
Dave Liebman: Placing Free Jazz and the Avant Garde in Musical and Historical Perspective

by Victor L. Schermer
Like free jazz, this interview arose spontaneously from an informal how are you doin'" telephone conversation between saxophonist Dave Liebman and All About Jazz contributor Vic Schermer. Schermer phoned Liebman to compliment him on his new e-book The Art of Skill: Establishing the Mindset for Unleashing the Music Inside You published by Michael Lake, and how ...
Guitar Gods & Goddesses: An Alternative Top Ten Albums

by Chris May
Although it has been present in jazz since the 1920s, when it was routinely used in rhythm sections, as a solo instrument the guitar struggled to make itself heard--literally--until the second half of the 1930s, when reliable pick-ups and portable amplifiers became available. Foremost among the pioneers of the electrified instrument was Charlie Christian, a member ...
Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker

by Mark Corroto
Universal Tonality: The Life And Music Of William Parker Cisco Bradley 384 Pages ISBN: # 978147801014 Duke University Press 2021 Who is William Parker? He is a jazz bassist, yes. But he is also a band leader, composer, writer & poet, community organizer, peace activist, and cultural anthropologist. Cisco ...