Michael Ullman

Jazz Review: Second Dispatch from the 39th Montréal Jazz Festival

July 8, 2018
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One of the most astonishing sets of my week in Montreal featured two Frenchmen, accordionist Vincent Peirani and soprano saxophonist Émile Parisien.

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Jazz Review: A Dispatch from the 39th Montréal Jazz Festival

July 7, 2018
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Among the festival’s highlights: pianist-singer Jeremy Dutcher, who arrived on the stage of the tiny space Gésu dressed in shorts and a long flowing black robe with a hood.

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Jazz CD Review: Harold López-Nussa — Rhythms Charming and Churning

June 30, 2018
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Pianist Harold López-Nussa is his own bold and expressive rhythm section.

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Jazz CD Review: Buster Williams — An Exemplary Modern Bassist

June 24, 2018
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There are no missteps on this disc. Buster Williams and company make all the complications swing, mightily.

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Jazz CD Review: Larry Goldings’s “Toy Tunes” — A Diverting Trio

May 22, 2018
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The music and performances on this delightful trio album are blithe and profound, a combination that should charm many listeners.

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Jazz CD Review: “Tramontana” — Electric, Buoyant Big Band Music

April 25, 2018
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Juan Andrés Ospina is not just an original big band writer, but a deeply satisfying one as well.

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Jazz CD Review: Edward Simon’s “Sorrows & Triumphs”

April 7, 2018
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One doesn’t have to have gone too deeply into Buddhism to recognize its influence on the titles found here, and perhaps on the music as well.

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Jazz Concert Review: Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition at the ICA

March 19, 2018
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Indo-Pak Coalition’s energized music and performance somehow manages to square the circle —  it is as engaging as it is songful and intelligent.

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Jazz CD Review: Philip Levine and Benjamin Boone Make “The Poetry of Jazz”

March 13, 2018
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For poet Philip Levine, music is not only a good thing in life: the good things in life are music.

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Jazz CD Review: Bill Frisell — “Music IS”

February 26, 2018
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One marvels at Bill Frisell’s improvisations, which can be both surprising and songful.

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