Results for "World Saxophone Quartet"

World Saxophone Quartet

World Saxophone Quartet - band/ensemble Originally consisting of saxophonists David Murray, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and Hamiet Bluiett, the World Saxophone Quartet is one of the finest and most unusual small combos in jazz today. The Quartet began performing as a unit in 1976, inspired by Ed Jordan, head of Music at New Orleans Southern University. Jordan had heard the saxophonists in their individual groups, and hired them to do a show together. "We liked it, and started doing gigs at other colleges," remembers David Murray. Although three of the original members, Hemphill, Lake and Bluiett, knew each other from St.Louis, it was not until this event that they decided to create a group consisting only of four saxophones

Recent Jazz Releases including a new one from Kenny Barron

by Jerome Wilson
May 17, 2023

Here are reviews of a diverse selection of jazz releases from the past few months. Allegra Levy Songs For You And Me Little Moon Records 2023 Vocalist Allegra Levy has made a children's music album for the most natural of reasons. She became a mother in 2021, ...

Nicole Mitchell + Some Johnny Hodges 45s

by David Brown
February 21, 2023

This week, our featured artist will be creative flutist, composer and educator Nicole Mitchell whose music we will explore in a variety of contexts. Our featured recording will be an old 1952 box of 45s titled “Johnny Hodges and his Alto Sax" that I picked up this week plus recent releases from Avram Fefer, Ben Wolf, ...

Six of the Best

by Jerome Wilson
August 2, 2022

Here are some thoughts on six recent quality jazz releases of varying types. Malcolm Earle Smith Vocal Intent Self Produced 2022 British musician Malcom Earle Smith is a trombonist by trade but on this album, he confines himself to vocals with pleasing results. His light, swinging voice ...

Vilnius Mama Jazz Festival 2022

by John Sharpe
June 6, 2022

Vilnius Mama Jazz Festival National Drama Theater Lithuania May 27-29, 2022 Introduction It's a little known fact that Lithuania has more jazz festivals per capita than any other country. Prominent among them is the Mama Jazz Festival, held annually amid the baroque beauty of the capital Vilnius. And it says something ...

OGJB Quartet: Ode To O

by John Sharpe
May 14, 2022

An assemblage of stars doesn't always result in a constellation. But astronomers will need to take note in the case of the OGJB Quartet, called after the forename initials of the four members: reedman Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul. On the venerable collective's second album Ode To O following ...

Coltrane's Progeny: Giant Steps for Late Beginners

by Richard J Salvucci
January 16, 2022

For many listeners, the name John Coltrane is synonymous with the tune “Giant Steps." Whether or not you happen to agree with the proposition that this was the “greatest" or most important composition Coltrane ever recorded—for some, it would be “My Favorite Things," and for still others, “A Love Supreme." This is not an attempt, largely ...

Darrell Katz & OddSong: Galeanthropolgy

by Jerome Wilson
January 12, 2022

OddSong is a chamber ensemble led by composer Darrell Katz, and distilled from the membership of the larger JCA Orchestra. It features vibraphone, violin, saxophones and voice, on music which veers between art songs and bluesy sax-led jazz tunes. Most of Katz's original compositions on this album feature poems by his late wife, poet Paula Tatarunis, ...

The Boyé Multi-National Crusade For Harmony

by Stefano Merighi
April 16, 2021

Che trionfo per Julius Hemphill! A dispetto delle poche pagine--o righe--che le recenti storie del jazz dedicano al maestro di Fort Worth, Hemphill emerge da questo cofanetto di inediti come sassofonista-improvvisatore-compositore tra i più profondi della musica afroamericana nei decenni compresi tra gli anni '70 e '90. E questa preziosa edizione non solo ...

David Murray & the World Saxophone Quartet (1979 - 1996)

by Russell Perry
June 2, 2020

Perhaps no jazz musician recorded a more varied output in more diverse settings in the 1980s than tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist David Murray. Three of the best bands to emerge in the decade were his Octet, his Quartet and the collaborative World Saxophone Quartet. He may have been the most recorded jazz artist of the ...