Jazz

Jazz Album Review: Pablo Ablanedo’s “Chistreza” — Rhythmic Bounty

July 18, 2020
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Every piece here seems to play by its own rhythmic rules, and yet nowhere does the music sound academic or formal.

Jazz Album Review: “Ballads for Two — Chet Baker and Wolfgang Lackerschmid”

July 8, 2020
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The playing on this 1979 album, which would generally be considered as flawed, is part of the singular (mature) Chet Baker gestalt.

Jazz Album Review: Dave Pietro’s “Hypersphere” — Complexity, Made Clear

July 7, 2020
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Dave Pietro is a fine, distinctive composer, an agile, precise saxophonist, and a band leader to be trusted.

Jazz Album/Concert Review: Saxophonist Joe Lovano — x 2

July 5, 2020
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No matter his musical surroundings, there is never any doubt that it is Joe Lovano you are hearing.

Album Review: Deerhoof and Wadada Leo Smith — Electrical Soul Music

June 30, 2020
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That this assemblage works so well is a tribute to the big ears and hearts — and collective intelligence — of all the players here.

Jazz Album Review: The Ultimate Peggy Lee — A Woman in Control

June 26, 2020
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Peggy Lee’s career took her far from the bifurcated sexual image expected of a canary — 40% coy seductiveness and 60% “I just want to settle down but will entertain you until the right guy comes along.”

Jazz Album Review: Pianist Erroll Garner — The Best Tunes Played with Mucho Gusto

June 25, 2020
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Thanks to Octave and Mack Avenue Records, a significant section of pianist Erroll Garner’s storied career is back, sounding better than ever before.

Jazz Album Review: Rudresh Mahanthappa’s “Hero Trio” — To the Rescue

June 23, 2020
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Adventurous jazz is not always as much fun to listen to as it is on Hero Trio, a stellar meeting of compositions, arrangements, and astute performances propelled by real passion.

Jazz Concert Review: Livestream — Billy Hart Quartet at the Village Vanguard

June 18, 2020
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The exhilarating power of live music in a small club blazed forth whenever the momentum built loud and hard toward a stirring transition.

Jazz Recording Review: “If There Are Mountains” — An Instant Classic

June 17, 2020
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There’s much to admire in If There Are Mountains, modulated pathos as well as subtle joys.

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