All About Jazz Feature Articles
William Hooker: Earth's Orbit
William Hooker Earth's Orbit No Business Records 2010
If East Coast is hot and West Coast cool in classic jazz parlance, then composer and drummer William Hooker subverts that tenet with East hot, West hotter in this limited edition, double vinyl set featuring separate bands captured live on each coast. Hooker has a fascination for incorporating other art forms into his performance, be it his own poetry or films, often transcending his free jazz roots to encompass rock and noise sensibilities in the process. But on these sides he focuses firmly on the core business, albeit with some nods to noise, for one of his strongest releases in recent years...
Los Cenzontles at Americas Society, July 21 2010
Los Cenzontles Americas Society New York, NY Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The California-based 8-piece ensemble came to the crowded Upper East Side room with a selection of contemporary-inflected traditional Mexican music, kicking off with "Hermosissimo Lucero," an a capella number in two voices. That was followed by an original number entitles "Soy Mexico Americano," an up-tempo ranchera led by musical director Eugene Rodriguez on twelve-string guitar. The lyrics speak of the ups, downs and pride of being part of two distinctively different cultural realities...
Jessica Williams: Touch
Jessica Williams Touch Origin Records 2010
Pianist Jessica Williams continues to evolve, and what a pure music lover's joy it is to hear an artist entering her sixth decade on a roll, growing and expanding her vision. Classically trained at the Peabody Conservatory, jazz-trained in the bands of Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, Stan Getz and others, Williams furthered her education with her own--more than seventy--albums/CDs as a leader...
Steve Johns with the Bob DeVos Organ Trio
Bob DeVos' Organ Trio is a prime example of a band that possesses a recognizable sound yet resists facile categorization. Since 2005, along with organist Dan Kostelnik and drummer Steve Johns, the Northern New Jersey-based guitarist has played numerous live gigs and recorded two compact discs, Shifting Sands and Playing For Keeps, both released on Savant Records to wide acclaim. The group doesn't necessarily invite comparison to the fashionable, John Coltrane-influenced, Larry Young-Grant Green-Elvin Jones Trio from the mid-1960s. Likewise, DeVos and company can't be pigeonholed into the crowd pleasing soul-jazz produced by some of the classic Hammond B-3 organ stylists who employed the guitarist for decades: Richard "Groove" Holmes, Brother Jack McDuff, and Charles Earland. DeVos' trio has managed to forge its own identity, in part by referencing instead of wholly embracing these models...
Fay Victor, Sabir Mateen, John Blum -- Vision Festival 2010: Day 3, June 25, ...
Fay Victor, Sabir Mateen, John Blum Vision Festival Abrons Arts Center New York City June 25, 2010
After the exceptional programs for the first two nights of the Vision Festival at the Abrons Arts Center, the Friday night show was always going to find it hard to compete. That seemed to be the view of many of the regulars who found offerings elsewhere more to their liking in the never-ending jazz festival that is Manhattan. Nonetheless there were more than enough intriguing sounds to be heard and fine musicians to appreciate...
Lage Lund: Looking Forward
Growing up in Norway, a young Lage Lund dreamt of moving to New York, though not to play guitar, but to break dance in the NY subway system. Luckily for jazz guitar fans, this dream was never realized. Instead, Lund picked up the guitar at the age of thirteen and hasn't looked back. Since then, he has recorded on numerous records as a sideman, released three albums under his own name, and won the most prestigious jazz competition in the world, 2005's Thelonious Monk Guitar Competition...
The Jazz Fiction Anthology
The Jazz Fiction Anthology Sascha Feinstein and David Rife, Editors Softcover; 500 pages ISBN: 978-0-253-22137-7 Publisher 2009
This fine anthology of jazz fiction is a treasure trove of stories and characters that illuminate the multicolored world of jazz. The editors--Sascha Feinstein and David Rife--are to be commended for their impeccable judgment in selecting the short stories and two novellas that comprise the collection. In the introduction, the editors state their ambitious aim: "to present the most definitive selection [of jazz fiction] ever published." And they succeed beautifully: the book is a generous five hundred pages that includes an impressive range of authors and stories, including writers famous and not so famous, writers black, white, male, female, dead, alive, French, Argentinean, Czech, Kiwi, a range as diverse as jazz itself. And like jazz, the stories range from early twenties to right now, giving a comprehensive view of the history of this music...
Muhal Richard Abrams / Joseph Jarman / John Tchicai -- Vision Festival 2010: ...
Muhal Richard Abrams, Joseph Jarman, John Tchicai Vision Festival Abrons Arts Center New York City June 24, 2010
Never has the Vision Festival tradition of honoring the lifetime achievement of seminal figures in the avant jazz world seemed more timely. In an eight-day period, which saw the passing of previous honorees Bill Dixon and Fred Anderson, the award for Chicago AACM founder Muhal Richard Abrams was spectacularly apt. News of Anderson's death in the small hours of the morning drew an audible gasp from festival-goers who had been hoping that the 81-year old saxophonist might have recovered from his illness sufficiently to make his scheduled appearance in duet with drummer Chad Taylor during the evening's celebrations...
Steve Cardenas: From K.C. to N.Y.C.
Kansas City has had a long and storied place in jazz history. From Count Basie, to Charlie Parker and Lester Young, some of the best and brightest in the genre have either been raised or cut their teeth in K.C. While there seems to be an historical tinge to the city whenever its contribution to jazz is concerned, the Paris of the Plains still produces many top-notch instrumentalist and vocalists from its clubs, high schools and universities. With such a storied past, and love of all things jazz, it's no wonder that players like Danny Embry, Karrin Allyson and guitarist Steve Cardenas continue to grow out of the city's musical soil...
Sing it Out to Swing it Out!
Through samples and loops, vocalese accompaniment within a chorus, harmony behind a verse, or a featured vocalist singing standard verses and choruses, the human voice brings a warm commonality to music from almost every space and time, including these six new and recent releases.
Joe Cuba A Man and His Music--El Alcalde del Barrio Fania Records 2010...
Molde Jazz Festival -- Norwegian Road Trip, Part 7: Molde Jazz, Days 5-6
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
[Editors Note: From July 6 to July 26, 2010, All About Jazz Managing Editor John Kelman A A A A A will travel throughout Norway to cover both the Kongsberg Jazz Festival (also participating in Silver City Sounds) and Molde Jazz. He'll also spend a week between the two famous festivals in Oslo, where he'll check out the scene, talk to musicians and labels, and visit the legendary Rainbow Studio for a look around and an interview with engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug, who has participated in hundreds of ECM recordings. He'll publish every second or third day, so be sure to follow him as he goes from the east coast to the west, in search of Norwegian artists known and unknown...
Don Aliquo: The Man, The Music, The Journey
Geography is a central theme in the life and artistry of Pittsburgh's native son, Don Aliquo. The saxophonist, educator and bandleader is part of a rich steel town jazz lineage which includes his father, Don Aliquo Sr., a performing artist and teacher in his own right. There is also a metaphorical geography, in which Aliquo covers virtually all aspects of the jazz experience, from daunting mainstream swing to edgy, modernistic genres...
Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2010
Copenhagen Jazz Festival Various Venues Copenhagen, Denmark July 2-11, 2010
With the current crisis of the major record labels and the folding of venues all over the world, it could be argued that jazz, as an art form, has entered the age of survival where it is simply a basic matter of keeping the music alive, rather than trying to let it flourish and expand. However, there are also signs that the so-called crisis of the music business is the fuel that has fed the fire of a whole new wave of musicians and entrepreneurs who are re-thinking how jazz should be communicated and distributed to an audience. What drives them is their passion. They're not in it for the money, but for the love of the music...
State of AAJ: July 2010
Dear fellow AAJ contributor,
2010 is shaping up to be the most important year in All About Jazz's 15 year history and I wanted to share our progress since our March newsletter. Index
The State of AAJ Label Profile Assignments: Interested? Track Reviews Wanted The AAJ Store: Check Us Out What's Coming Soon Think Strategically New Columns Upload Your Photos to the Gallery Email Notifications: Give Your Articles a Viral Boost P. S. Get Well Raul...
Molde Jazz Festival -- Norwegian Road Trip, Part 6: Molde Jazz, Days 3-4
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
[Editors Note: From July 6 to July 26, 2010, All About Jazz Managing Editor John Kelman A A A A A will travel throughout Norway to cover both the Kongsberg Jazz Festival (also participating in Silver City Sounds) and Molde Jazz. He'll also spend a week between the two famous festivals in Oslo, where he'll check out the scene, talk to musicians and labels, and visit the legendary Rainbow Studio for a look around and an interview with engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug, who has participated in hundreds of ECM recordings. He'll publish every second or third day, so be sure to follow him as he goes from the east coast to the west, in search of Norwegian artists known and unknown...
|
|
All About Jazz CD Reviews
Suresh Singaratnam: Lost In New York
Born in Zambia but brought up in Toronto, Canada, trumpeter Suresh Singaratnam is formally trained in both jazz and classical music, latterly at the Manhattan School of Music. Lost In New York is an album of original compositions that chronicles the young musician's early years in the city. It's a mix of experiences and emotions that are reflected in the tunes, which are divided into three groups of three to reflect the major changes in those early years...
Ratko Zjaca: Continental Talk
When a group's credentials include bassist John Patitucci, drummer Steve Gadd and trumpeter Randy Brecker, it's not an unreasonable expectation to hear some quality jazz. What may be more surprising is that leader, guitarist and composer, Ratko Zjaca and his longtime collaborator, saxophonist, Stanislav Mitrovic, steal the show on Continental Talk. This revelation is almost entirely due to the relative obscurity of these Croatian musicians in the U.S. As a teenager, Zjaca was inspired by performances from both the John Coltrane and Miles Davis groups in his native country. There are a number of middle-eastern styles that have also informed Zjaca's previous work. Though he has worked with a number of principal talents in jazz, it is his 2004 duo release with Mitrovic, Shades of Spirit (Sam Sam Music), which best demonstrates both musicians' sweeping creativity...
Mike Mainieri: Crescent
Nearly forty-five years after the death of John Coltrane, jazz players still feel compelled to negotiate his music. Young cats wrestle with the harmonic complexities and attempt to conquer the saxophonist icon's mighty energy. Luckily, players like vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and saxophonist Charlie Mariano have made peace with the legend. Their document, in this two-disc set, is a fitting tribute to both the music of Coltrane and Mariano, for this was to be one of his last recordings before passing away in 2009...
Joe Cuba: A Man and His Music--El Alcalde del Barrio
Exhaustive and exhausting (because you won't be able to stop dancing), A Man and His Music--El Alcalde del Barrio presents the first major retrospective of the 240 albums recorded by Joe Cuba, the Father of Latin boogaloo, and was released in February 2010 to commemorate the one year anniversary of his passing...
Celine Bonacina: Way Of Life
It may not approach the freak-show proportions of the bass saxophone Adrian Rollini popularized in the 1920s, but the baritone is still an impressive beast, one that has frequently been employed as much for its visual impact as for the notes it produces. Ever since Little Richard introduced the unwieldy instrument to his touring band in the 1950s--at one time his reed section consisted only of two baritones--rock and roll and rhythm and blues groups have employed it primarily for theatrical effect (while favoring the more penetrating bite of the alto or tenor on disc)...
Bobby Avey: A New Face
A New Face is a somewhat misleading title for this album. True, this is the debut recording as leader by the 25-year-old Bobby Avey but he's been on the jazz scene for some time. Most notably, he joined star saxophonist Dave Liebman on Vienna Dialogues (ZOHO, 2006) while he was still a student and his regular trio--bassist Thomson Kneeland and drummer Jordan Pearlson, both featured effectively here--has been together since 2005...
Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim: Francis Albert Sinatra and A...
Finally.
The Complete Reprise Recordings compiles every tune--all 20--that America's supreme vocalist recorded with Brazil's preeminent composer during their legendary late 1960s summits. The first ten comprise the famous, fantastic Francis Albert Sinatra / Antonio Carlos Jobim album arranged and orchestrated by Claus Ogerman, released by Reprise in 1967. Sinatra and Jobim reconvened two years later, with Eumir Deodato replacing Ogerman as arranger, to record 10 more tunes for a second Sinatra-Jobim album that the Chairman withdrew from the market as soon as it was shipped (we'll explain why). Seven of those tunes later appeared as the first side of Sinatra and Company, released by Reprise in 1971; this new compilation unveils the other three--"Bonita," "Desafinado (Off Key)" and "The Song of the Sabia"--for the first time...
Janiva Magness: The Devil is an Angel Too
Just one listen to The Devil is an Angel Too, Janiva Magness' ninth album and second for Chicago's venerated blues label Alligator, immediately reveals why she's the Blues Music Awards' reigning "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year" and "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year" (only the second female to cop the "Entertainer" honor--Koko Taylor was the first)...
Clutchy Hopkins: The Story Teller
Clutchy Hopkins is one of the most inscrutable musical characters you'll ever meet, if you could meet him. No one seems to know who he is, including and especially his record label, or even if Clutchy Hopkins is a singular him or a collective them. Complicating the matter, The Story Teller has vocals but not one single lyric. So how does this person who may not even be a person use no words to tell a story...
Vox Arcana: Aerial Age
This is drummer Tim Daisy's working trio. His other work with Ken Vandermark has in recent years mapped out new territory for the always vibrant Chicago creative music scene. Daisy's compositions make up the whole program on this title and it's clear from them that his influences range from that city to schools outside of the improvised music continuum; if this implies a broad outlook then that's pretty much close to the truth for all the chamber music implications of the trio's lineup...
Tomisheep: Rhodes Trip
Tamas Barany studied for eight years at the Bela Bartok Music Academy in his native Hungary and in 2004 was appointed a Knight in the Order of Saint George (Eastern Europe's oldest chivalric order, established in 1326), an appointment he accepted as a pianist, accompanied by an oath to protect the origins of traditional Hungarian music...
Carmen Souza: Protegid
One often hears the expression, "It's all over the map." But it's rarely used been more truthfully or appropriately than when applied to Protegid, the third album by vocalist Carmen Souza, born in Lisbon, of Cape Verdean descent, and now residing in London. Singing in a colorful, eclectic Portuguese-based Creole, Souza illuminates, stretches, and snaps back the elastic connections between Latin, African and Arabic music, American jazz and the music of Cape Verde...
Daniel Meron: Directions
Pianist/composer Daniel Meron makes an emphatic debut with Directions, a quintet album of stylish and original tunes. Meron grew up in Israel and was appointed Chief Musical Arranger to the Israeli military's performance troupes during his service. It's an unusual apprenticeship for a jazz musician, but on the evidence of this album it's an effective one. A scholarship to Berklee College in 2007, where he was taught by Greg Osby and Joe Lovano, was followed by a move to New York where Directions was recorded in June 2009...
HAT: Local HAT
Too much of it might be undesirable but a little psychedelia is good thing. The Catalan-based group simply called HAT offers it up on Local HAT, with its unique blend of modern jazz that touches on everything from abstract, rock, avant-garde, catchy pop-influenced hooks, and whatever else spawns from its richly diverse music environment surrounding Barcelona, Spain...
Rich Corpolongo Trio: Get Happy
Tenor saxophonist Rich Corpolongo is a well-known figure on the Chicago jazz scene, having performed for decades with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Mel TormA(C) and drummer Barrett Deems' big band. An author of four books on improvisation, Corpolongo is known for exploring a variety of jazz styles, from standard swing to avant-garde. For Get Happy, his third release on Delmark Records, the veteran reed man recalls the piano-less trio sound of tenor giant Sonny Rollins, with a straight-ahead live recording from Chicago's Columbia College...
|
|
