Entries from July 2015
Spike Orchestra: Spike Orchestra: Ghetto
What does it mean to make jazz records halfway through the second decade of the 21st Century? Can there still be a place at the cutting edge for an art form whose commercial peak was in the 1950s and which the majority of the population still associate with the middle of the road vocal records of th…
Date: No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews
·Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: Roulette of the Cradle
The fact that m: Ingrid Laubrock ‘s Anti-house is an established working band is borne out by the degree of trust the German saxophonist places in her world class cast of collaborators. But even though she doesn’t put in an appearance until part way through the second track, her imprint is…
Date: No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews
·Manu KatchA(C): Touchstone for Manu
Drummer m: Manu KatchA(C) found the spotlight supplying the groove to recordings by rock artists m: Peter Gabriel and m: Sting , then to jazz artists m: Jan Garbarek and m: Herbie Hancock . His four ECM recordings as leader showed him to be an ac…
Date: No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews
·Kuku: Ballads and Blasphemy
Yorubaland is a region of southwest Nigeria which extends into parts of Benin and Togo. It is the ancestral homeland of the Yoruba people, and remains a vital source of cultural identity, especially spiritual music and rhythms. Kuku is a singer/songwriter who though born in the United States, is a Y…
Date: No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews
·Joe Magnarelli: Three On Two
The majority of trumpeter Joe Magnarelli’s leader dates have been no-nonsense, straight ahead quintet outings, so on the surface, it might appear that he’s settled into something of a rut. But appearances can be deceiving. Only those who haven’t heard Magnarelli’s albums would think such a thing. Fo…
Date: No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews
·Jeff Miguel: Perseverance
Armed with a recently-received Master’s degree in Music from the University of Iowa, young tenor saxophonist Jeff Miguel enters the world of recorded jazz with an impressive debut album entitled Perseverance, an offering of eight originals forged in the mainstream, straight ahead fashion containing…
Date: No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews
·RelativE ResonancE: RelativE ResonancE
With RelativE ResonancE, composer and drummer m: Devin Gray has staked out new, exciting and different territory than that explored in his highly acclaimed previous album, Dirigo Rataplan. Whereas the earlier band (saxophonist m: Ellery Eskelin , trumpeter {{m: Dave Ballou = 15…
Date: No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews
·