Michael Ullman
We should look forward, eagerly, to hearing more lost, or previously issued music, from Jazzhaus. And be grateful to the European public for supporting these concerts and broadcasts.
Chucho Valdés moved almost seamlessly from African-Cuban rhythms and chants in Yoruba or Spanish to a hip modern jazz style. The latter, paradoxically, owes much to the brilliant runs and glissandi of Art Tatum, the bluesiness of Horace Silver, and the power of the left hand chords of McCoy Tyner.
In any piece, the remarkable pianist Jason Moran might go to the very edges of the harmonic movement, until he on the verge of free jazz.
Jazz musician Don Byron is nothing if not eclectic, but his own playing is always penetrating, challenging, energizing, and his compositions vehicles for both intense exploration and tenderness.
Chick Corea and Gary Burton were celebrating their recent disc, “Hot House,” which they said was meant to recall the sixties, when the two were starting their careers. But the sixties were never quite like this.
Intimacy has been the key note of bossa nova performance ever since the initial murmurings of Joao and Astrud Gilberto, and singer Eliane Elias can whisper with the best of them.
Ralph Peterson is interested in furthering a complex, post-bop legacy. His music can be hard to count: it’s also rip-roaring fun.
Fans of classical piano should find this collection of performances by something of an institution around Boston a rare delight.
Bassist Michael Feinberg has done many things right in his richly varied tribute to the great percussionist Elvin Jones.
Wadada Leo Smith’s album contains avant-garde music with a human face, intimate and appealing and beautifully played by a band of virtuosos.
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