Allen Michie
The model here is clearly Ornette Coleman’s early quartets on Atlantic but, in the hands of these trios, it’s clear there’s much that’s still fresh left to explore in this 65-year-old style.
It was all intense, bracing, and urgent jazz in Austin last week. I don’t know how all y’all spoiled New Yorkers keep your heads from exploding.
Here are two new and very different records from virtuosos of the jazz harmonica, both seasoned pros, and one of them deserving of much wider recognition.
Émile Bernard, to his credit, spends much of his life redeeming rather than demeaning his friend.
“Soul & Salvation” is a short album, and you’ll be sorry when it’s over. It’s hardly an essential album in Dizzy Gillespie’s long discography, but you won’t regret giving it a listen.
Here’s a trio of organ trios from a new generation of players indebted, but not chained, to the classic jazz format and style that has been dominant since Jimmy Smith in the ’60s.
Samara Joy uncorked her gospel pipes, the likes of which probably haven’t been heard on mainstream secular stages since Aretha Franklin.
Two highly recommended sets available on vinyl in limited editions on Record Store Day, November 24. CD issues will follow shortly afterward.
It’s good to hear the Basie band stretch. But it’s even better to hear them exult the blues with their own time-honored style leading the way.
Book Review: “3 Shades of Blue” — Transcendent Art, Despite Personal Demons
“3 Shades of Blue” is at its most compelling seen as an extended essay about drugs, creativity, the jazz life, and the mysterious nature of musical genius.
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