All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 02/07/2010
The title here refers to both trombonist Vincent Gardner's age and the time signatures (3/4 and 5/4) of the majority of the tracks on this CD. Gardner says the "idea for the date was to try these pieces in a different meter. It's amazing that when you drop a beat and take a tune usually played in 4/4 down to 3/4 its character changes and therefore you respond differently." It's not really...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 02/05/2010
The history of jazz has always favored the partnership of strong personalities, especially those of guitar and tenor saxophone collaborations. Memorable pairings have included: Jim Hall and Sonny Rollins , Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano , and Kurt Rosenwinkel and Mark Turner . Add to that list two Italian artists, guitarist Francesco Diodati and saxophonist Francesco Bigoni...
The Daily Swarm - Headlines (Free subscription) | 02/04/2010
In the same way it’s surprising to find out how many of the world’s best comedians come from Canada, it’s shocking (even, or maybe especially, for a native like me) to discover how many of the world’s best musicians come from New Jersey. Patti Smith and Frank Sinatra, Lauryn Hill and Queen Latifah, Whitney Houston, Yo La Tengo, Ice T, the Misfits and the Smithereens. Connie...
Jazz & Blues Music Reviews (Free subscription) | 02/03/2010
This was a well played album of strong muscular modern jazz rooted in the fertile soil of the trio recordings Sonny Rollins made in the 1950's and 60's. Joining tenor saxophonist Bergonzi in the core trio are Dave Santoro on bass and Andrea Michelutti on drums. The added space on the trio tracks leaves room for some nice solos from Bergonzi and the bass player. The music on tracks like "Crop Circles"...
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 02/03/2010
Daedalus Books and Music is a company that sells remaindered or overstocked books and recordings. It is the beneficiary of what we might conservatively call a state of flux in the fields of book publishing and recorded music. Daedalus and...
Movie Cross Rhodes (Free subscription) | 01/29/2010
Rob Nilsson and Cine Manifest Anthology Film Archives retrospective highlights still-working filmmaker Re-posted from www.thefanzine.com, 1/22/2010 In releasing the DVD of his Winter Oranges in 2000, a film set on Sagi Island just off the coast of Hiroshima and concerning encounters between the islanders and a group of tourists, filmmaker Rob Nilsson wrote on the liner, “Only when art is non-political...
metropolis (Free subscription) | 01/26/2010
Drawing by Mark Weber NUANCES I’ll venture a line, a sort of speculation, spectacular, sepulchral, purely a set of words that caught my ear And call it an opening gambit upon which to improvise, or as we say in jazz: to riff Not to be confused with riffs, those infamous background taunting phrases from a Kansas City horn section No, I mean riff in the sense of [...] Related posts: mark weber...
St. Louis Jazz Notes (Free subscription) | 01/26/2010
The Nu-Art Series has announced a new series of weekend matinees presenting St. Louis musicians performing their own work and the music of a famous jazz composer. "The Jazz Composers Series: Re-Arrangements & Nu-Compositions" will begin Saturday, February 6 with a concert featuring bassist Darrell Mixon's quartet and the music of Charles Mingus and continue each weekend until April 17....
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 01/26/2010
In the 1950s, there were jazz musicians who lived so far into the future intellectually that other musicians from the period called them "far out." Gil Melle was one of those "out of sight" artists. But to merely refer to Melle (pronounced Mell-AY) as a jazz baritone saxophonist doesn't fully explain this creative dynamo who today is largely forgotten. In addition to recording fascinating...
In the Dark (Free subscription) | 01/25/2010
Walking past a Jazz club during my recent trip to Copenhagen – sadly, I didn’t have time to go in – I remembered the many times I’d heard the great Danish bass player Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (known universally to Jazz fans as NHØP) playing there in the past. He died suddenly of a heart attack in [...]
AfriClassical (Free subscription) | 01/25/2010
[PRODIGY Roy Eaton with the piano on which he learned to play. Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times] On Jan. 21, 2010 AfriClassical posted word of a forthcoming article on Roy F. Eaton and his old Edgecombe neighborhood in New York City. Here is a link to the story in The New York Times , which published additional photos as well. Memories of Sugar Hill NYTimes.com By David Gonzalez Published: January...
NewBlackMan (Free subscription) | 01/24/2010
In Sugar Hill, a Street Nurtured Black Talent When the World Wouldn’t by David Gonzalez New York is a city of blocks, each with its own history, customs and characters. Yet from these small stages spring large talents. Anyone who doubts that need look no further than a stretch of Edgecombe Avenue perched on a bluff near 155th Street. It was part of Sugar Hill, the neighborhood of choice for elegant...
The Observer (Free subscription) | 01/22/2010
Jamie-James Medina interviews the jazz giant for an Observer Music Monthly series
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 01/20/2010
Music that flows from Jerry Garcia, Woody Guthrie, Gunter Hampel, Sonny Rollins and beyond, to join up in the delta of Who Knows? Appearing at the comfortable Yippie Museum Cafe at 9 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village on Saturday, January 30 at 8PM, Who Knows? is a special blend of guitarist/vocalist Richie Nagan, alto saxophonist Mark Whitecage, and clarinetist Perry Robinson. There is no admission...
bebop spoken here (Free subscription) | 01/20/2010
Harley Johnson (pno), Jim Crinson (bs), Eric Stutt (dms). Unfortunately, as I was unable to make the gig after helping to set it up, I'm unable to give a full rundown. However, after speaking to the musicians concerned, it seems as though it went down okay and with the promise of more gigs to come I guess I can say that the Cherry Tree's reputation for good music and good food hasn't been compromised....
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