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Carla Bley: Joyful Noise – Live In Hamburg 1984
by Mike Jurkovic
For a brief human moment, let us imagine that pianist/composer/maestro Carla Bley was cast as a villainess on the low-camp-crazy 60's Batman TV show. Yes, that one. The one with Adam West running around in tights. Who would Bley be? Perhaps, with her humorous inquests into any musical form that might threaten Gotham, she would be dubbed The Dabbler. Yes, The Dabbler! Or maybe, The Dancer! The woman in the opulent headpiece who always took the lead. For ...
Continue ReadingAlex Harding, Lucian Ban: Blutopia
by Neri Pollastri
Il pianista Lucian Ban e il sassofonista baritono Alex Harding, assidui collaboratori dalla fine degli anni Novanta, riuniscono qui un quintetto di stelle per interpretare una musica assai diversificata di brano in brano e la cui sintesi è forse espressa da una citazione del filosofo Ibn Al-Arabi riportata nel libretto, la quale celebra il movimento quale origine della vita ed elemento che rende impossibile qualsiasi stasi nel mondo. Accanto ai due co-leader, la formazione vede il violista Mat ...
Continue ReadingJeff Lederer: Guilty!!!
by Mark Corroto
Note to conservative Republicans: stop reading this review now. Note to self: There cannot be but a handful of folks who are both MAGA and jazz and improvised music listeners. Jeff Lederer's Guilty!!! recalls a time when jazz was at the forefront of the zeitgeist. Max Roach, John Coltrane, and Charles Mingus were creating music about and during the civil rights movement. Elsewhere Neil Young was protesting the four dead at Kent State, while Graham Nash was recruiting ...
Continue ReadingMichael Blake: Combobulate
by Chris May
The instrumentation alone promises something out of the ordinary. Saxophone, two tubas, trumpet, trombone, drums. Then there are the musicians, luminaries of downtown New York jazz. Michael Blake, Bob Stewart, Marcus Rojas, Steven Bernstein, Clark Gayton, Allan Mednard. And within seconds of the needle descending on track one, side one, Combobulate starts delivering on the promise. The album is one of four marking the return of audiophile-vinyl label Newvelle after a two-year hiatus. The approximate meaning of its ...
Continue ReadingBob Stewart: Brassy Bass Lines
by Matthew Miller
Over his 40-year career, tubaist Bob Stewart has redefined his instrument's role in modern jazz. His thundering, breathy grooves and fluid improvisations have been integral to the work of a who's who of creative musicians, including Arthur Blythe, David Murray and Carla Bley, as well as to Stewart's own impressive discography as a leader.
All About Jazz: For those who aren't aware, would you talk a little about your background? Bob Stewart: Well, my ... Continue ReadingBob Stewart: Then & Now
by Glenn Astarita
Bob Stewart is one of a select few who have catapulted the tuba into more of a prominent role within jazz and modern music circles. With that, Stewart enlists a mighty impressive cast of jazz musicians along with the legendary folk-blues singer/songwriter, Taj Mahal on Then & Now.
Stewart handles the bottom end without the utilization or perhaps, requirements of a bassist as he drives the band forward on “Hambone” which is a New Orleans style R&B/Funk number featuring brassy ...
Continue ReadingJohn Clark: I Will
by Glenn Astarita
French hornist John Clark along with his venerable band-mates go straight to the heart with their expressive and altogether grand rendition of Coltrane’s hypnotically melodic, “India”. Bright, rousing horn charts, and fluent phrasing by Clark get things off to a rather rapid and somewhat boisterous start! Here, the pre-eminent french hornist and his fine cast including, drummer Bruce Ditmas, saxophonists Alex Foster, Chris Hunter and others assist Clark in compiling this outstanding production consisting of jazz standards and Clark originals. ...
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