Steve Elman

Jazz Album Reviews: Jazz Composers’ Omnibus 2024

August 10, 2024
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Each of these four projects requires deep attention from a listener. Only two of them repay that attention with the musical rewards that bring a listener (this listener, at least) back for rehearings.

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Jazz Album Review: Jeff Scott’s “Passion for Bach and Coltrane”

July 29, 2024
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A belated appreciation of one of 2023’s most interesting releases – this Grammy-winning “compendium” may not be a strongly unified work, but its individual parts are eloquent residents of the Place Between classical and jazz.

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Jazz Commentary: String Quartet Omnibus, 2024

July 25, 2024
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Here is music of depth, music to hear and to think about in a Time of Troubles. But who will play it again? Who will listen? And who will buy?

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Jazz Remembrance: David Sanborn, Way Beyond Smooth

May 28, 2024
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He was lucky to be so well-rewarded for doing what he loved to do, and we were always lucky to hear him.

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Arts Investigation: Mortality and Jazz Artists – Do We Honor the Dead?

May 15, 2024
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How well or how poorly are we paying homage to our jazz ancestors? Some graves are worthy places of pilgrimage. Others are neglected . . . or unknown.

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Jazz Perspective: Zev Feldman – A Sherlock of a Producer with an Impressive Portfolio

April 26, 2024
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Zev Feldman is becoming one of the great sleuth-producers of our time, and his name is becoming a marker of quality.

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Jazz Album Reviews: New Sets of Previously Unreleased Music — Art Tatum, Yusef Lateef, and Others

April 23, 2024
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These four sets are among five new collections of previously-unreleased music that provide crisp snapshots of renowned jazz performers in the second half of the twentieth century and precious documents of great originals in their prime.

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Jazz Appreciation: Moppa Elliott Does It All for You

March 25, 2024
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Moppa Elliott is an important jazz composer and a dynamic leader. When he brings a group to our area (which happens only rarely), do not miss the gig. When he issues a new recording, pay attention.

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Jazz Album Reviews: Moppa Elliott’s New Recordings — His Most Sincere Efforts to Date

March 20, 2024
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Moppa Elliott makes eminently approachable music at a very high standard, with great ingenuity and sophistication. He has proven himself to be one of the most inventive and creative composers for small jazz ensemble since Charles Mingus.

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Jazz Album Review: Abdullah Ibrahim’s “3” – Meditations on a Legacy

March 5, 2024
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A new release from Abdullah Ibrahim adds almost 100 minutes to a legacy of paramount importance to jazz, to world music, and to our understanding of a life lived in art.

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