Michael Ullman
Soprano saxophonist Emile Parisien’s new disc is deliberately, and satisfyingly, international.
The rewards of these and other recordings provide ample proof that, with its shape-shifting qualities, the string quartet will continue to be a powerful asset for talented jazz composers.
Whether playing together or apart, on this 1981 recording the two saxophonists couldn’t sound more gracefully inspired or more compatible.
The trio shares Cecil Taylor’s love of rational freedom and adventure, but it doesn’t try to reproduce the pianist’s rip-roaring intensity.
As serious a musician as he is, and as virtuosic as he can be, the naturally extroverted Christian McBride knows how to entertain, a talent generously evident in this live performance.
I find Visions of Your Other exciting. It is beautifully recorded: these are four musicians who care about their sound.
One of pianist Edward Simon’s strengths is his ability to be simultaneously romantic and clear-headed, precise and suggestive.
A judicious mix of jazz classics, standards, and Corea compositions, Live is a blast.
There’s a pleasing variety in this collection, which serves up valuable music that might not have otherwise been heard.
There’s a contrast here, an understandable impatience with current events placed alongside belief in MLK’s vision of the long arc of the moral universe. Neither cancels the other.
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