Michael Ullman
My guess is that Keith Jarrett probably wasn’t satisfied with this performance. I wouldn’t change a note, a gesture, or a shading.
He may be extreme as a polemicist, but Ricky Riccardi shines when he sticks to jazz’s history.
This 1969 concert by the Thelonious Monk Quartet was produced by a high school student and recorded by his school’s janitor. It presents this particular group at its optimistic best.
Playing vinyl involves holding something in your hand, putting a needle down and, at least on my high end system, listening to sound quality that can mesmerize.
Iridescence is a masterful set, with none of the tentative feeling …he bipped when he should have bopped …that sometimes afflicts free jazz outings.
This is demanding contemporary music that succeeds at the trick of pulling you in — and makes you glad to be there.
Dave Pietro is a fine, distinctive composer, an agile, precise saxophonist, and a band leader to be trusted.
That this assemblage works so well is a tribute to the big ears and hearts — and collective intelligence — of all the players here.
Yes, purchasing this EP will help out a good cause, but the musical value of this fabulous duo’s performance is priceless.
This is an intelligent, inventively performed, be-boppish tribute to a composer I now know better than ever.
Classical Music Commentary: Boston’s Lost Opportunity — How the BSO Board Chose Charles Munch over Leonard Bernstein