Jazz
This disc is mainly a showcase for guitarist Nels Cline’s compositions as well as his cleverness at commanding group improvisation.
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Every guitarist should listen carefully to this album. And then maybe some Johnny Smith.
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Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval is a big personality and in this performance he was almost as much raconteur, comedian and ringmaster as musician.
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From intense solo recitals to big band rumbles, Satoko Fujii can not only be counted on for exploratory zeal — she also has the chops to pull off whatever she attempts.
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Although his choice of material doesn’t always work for me, for my money, Kurt Elling is the most important jazz vocalist of the last twenty years.
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One aspect of Newport I treasure is that it shows me, every time, how much I don’t know.
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The author of this Sonny Rollins bio promises us “A Journey into his World of Spirituality” — and that sets high expectations.
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Vocalist Allegra Levy is at her strongest when purveying certain specific moods — melancholy, playful, even lightly ironic.
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Ronnie Cuber makes the high-speed acceleration sound lyrical as well as virtuosic; the band obliges with solos that come off as much more than your standard bop band running the changes.
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Commentary/Interview: “The Jazz Bubble” — The Arts, Commodified
In what ways are the arts themselves (and our understanding of them) being shaped to serve the ethos of corporate profit-making?
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