Michael Ullman
One of the most astonishing sets of my week in Montreal featured two Frenchmen, accordionist Vincent Peirani and soprano saxophonist Émile Parisien.
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.
Pianist Harold López-Nussa is his own bold and expressive rhythm section.
There are no missteps on this disc. Buster Williams and company make all the complications swing, mightily.
The music and performances on this delightful trio album are blithe and profound, a combination that should charm many listeners.
Juan Andrés Ospina is not just an original big band writer, but a deeply satisfying one as well.
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.
Indo-Pak Coalition’s energized music and performance somehow manages to square the circle — it is as engaging as it is songful and intelligent.
For poet Philip Levine, music is not only a good thing in life: the good things in life are music.
One marvels at Bill Frisell’s improvisations, which can be both surprising and songful.
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