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Bill Laswell "Aspiration"
Spiritualism has long been a significant characteristic of Bill Laswell's work, particularly as the moniker applies to jazz. Laswell has not only worked with many of the avatars of Spiritual Jazz over the years, he has often reflected on this music and its largely unheralded influence in his many guises as bassist, producer, re-mixer, musical conceptualist ...
Melvin Sparks - R.I.P.
Guitarist Melvin Sparks, a soul-jazz legend and acid-jazz pioneer, died yesterday at his Mt. Vernon, New York, home from heart failure. He would have turned 65 next week. Reports indicate he died from complications associated with diabetes. Sparks made his name in the late '60s and early '70s as a soulful guitarist—or “gittar" player, as he ...
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross "The Social Network"
One of my recent Facebook rants involved my stupefaction for the surprising nomination and even more shocking Academy Award win of the Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score to the David Fincher film The Social Network. I was surprised that something like this could have stood alongside any of the great musical masterpieces that came before ...
Peter Scharli Trio Featuring Ithamara Koorax "O Grande Amor"
In their second recording together, Swiss trumpeter Peter Schärli and Brazilian singer Ithamara Koorax have come up with a beautiful reflection on Brazilian music that goes far above and beyond expectation. Schärli, whose attractive sound and complimentary interjections suggest the influence of Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko, and Koorax were first brought together in 2006 by the ...
Joe Morello - R.I.P.
Drummer Joe Morello, one of jazz's under-sung heroes, has died. Best known as the rhythmic timekeeper of multiple times in Dave Brubeck's famed quartet, when the quartet made some of its best-known recordings, Morello had lately become an in-demand clinician, teacher and bandleader whose former students numbered Danny Gottlieb, Max Weinberg, Gary Feldman and Jerry Granelli. ...
"Then the Morning Comes" by Smash Mouth
While working on a project, I happened to stumble across a cool little tune performed by pianist David Benoit on his 2002 album Fuzzy Logic. The song is “Then The Morning Comes" and it turns out it was originally performed by Smash Mouth from its hit 1999 album Astro Lounge, the one that has the big ...
Jack Lee/Bob James "Botero"
The evolution of pianist/composer Bob James from accompanist/arranger and producer/label owner to successful solo artist and popular bandleader has been fascinating. His music has changed quite a bit during this period too, running the gauntlet of genres and generations. Indeed, fans of Bob James' group Fourplay are unlikely to know or appreciate his great Tappan Zee ...
Savoring the Perfect Mystique of MPS
Over the last couple of years, the great German label Promising Music has issued some of the more eclectic and iconoclastic releases of Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer's legendary MPS label. The releases are beautifully packaged in gatefold LP-like sleeves, fully reproducing the album's original cover graphics (encased in a wrap-around utilizing oddly Japanese text, suggesting that the ...
Method of Defiance "Incunabula"
Method of Defiance (MOD) is one of bassist / producer / conceptualist Bill Laswell's most recent—and perhaps most significant—musical projects. Apparently Method of Defiance is a “musical, sonic, aesthetic, mind and body experience, at once structured, spontaneous, precise, random, brash, beautiful and above all unforgivable." This could be Bill Laswell's entire musical aesthetic: a no-bounds, no-holds ...
Kahil El'zabar's Ethnics Featuring Nona Hendryx "It's Time"
Chicago-based percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Kahil El'Zabar, a leading member of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) since the 1970s, has become well-known for the huge and fascinating body of work crafted in his groups Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and the Ritual Trio. In addition to aligning himself with edgier jazz lights Wadada Leo Smith, ...
