Paris, France - One of music's most innovative and eclectic ensembles, Magma, will be releasing the final installment to their most recent epic trilogy. Titled Emehntehtt-Re, Magma's new opus will be released internationally on November 5, 2009 on Seventh Records. This marks the second trilogy by the legendary French band, the first being Theusz Hamtaahk. Magma was founded in Paris in 1969 by drummer...
As promised, today is my birthday. I'm 30 years old, pretty much twice as old as I was 15 years ago. Birthdays are very strange: it's as if one can really mark the passage of time, can stop and take...
... and read Michael Bérubé. In fact, read everybody associated with Crooked Timber, for all I care. Michael has his dominant themes but wanders off-topic and riffs on pretty much everything. That's the way people expected bloggers to behave in...
Wednesday, October 28 Celebrate Hadley Caliman Seattle Art Museum, downtown 7:30pm $18 general, $10 students An all-star quintet featuring renowned saxophonist Hadley Caliman, the legendary Curtis Fuller (trombone), Larry Vukovich (piano), Jeff Chambers (bass), and Eddie Marshall (drums) concludes its Pacific Northwest tour in a special tribute concert to the Seattle-based tenor master...
Meet Luca Santaniello: Originally from Italy and a graduate of the Conservatory Of Music 'Lorenzo Perosi' in Campobasso, drummer Luca Santaniello has been living in New York City since 2001, performing as a freelance jazz musician and collaborating with musicians from the international jazz scene. He has performed in the finest New York City jazz clubs and venues as well as toured most of Europe with...
This week, let's peruse some video clips of saxophonist Kenny Garrett , who will be in St. Louis with his quartet starting this Wednesday, October 21 through Saturday, October 24 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro . After launching his career working with the big bands of Duke Ellington and Mel Lewis, Garrett first gained wide public attention as a member of one of Miles Davis' last groups, performing...
If you're a jazz misanthrope you probably think first to "shoot the piano player," a saying taken from the Francois Truffaut film of the same name, Tirez sur le pianiste. Truth be told, the most effective way to pull the plug on a jazz band, a very good jazz band, is to take out the drummer. An adept drummer can be the dominant voice in the band, like {{Elvin Jones = 8162}}, or the batterie...
A 1955 effort including the legendary bassist Charles Mingus and Elvin Jones on drums. Released on Mingus' own Debut Records. A very mellow record, with multiple arrangements by vibe player Teddy Charles. "Alone Together" is arranged by Mingus. 1. Nature Boy - 6:14 2. Alone Together - 7:17 3. There's No You - 8:06 4. Easy Living - 5:03 Miles Davis - trumpet Britt Woodman - trombone Charles...
The profile I wrote on Living Colour ran this morning on TheRoot.com. Here's a taste: “When they play together, I’ll put them onstage with anybody, in any genre of music,” says cultural critic and longtime friend Greg Tate who, along...
John Coltrane's rendition of "My Favorite Things" completely transformed the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune from "The Sound of Music." One could expect nothing less from "Trane," a volcanic force in modern jazz whose music reflected his constant quest for new sounds and his spiritual search. Playing in Germany in 1961, Coltrane, on soprano sax, is joined by Eric Dolphy,...
The original liner notes to this archival release note that this is a blowing session, where the individual emotion of the musicians takes precedence over the material composition. Stating that the blowing session was the essence of jazz in New York in the 1950's, they make the case for the primacy of hard bop as the lingua franca of jazz. These statements are borne out by the music which is mostly...
Review of Steve Grossman/ Damon Brown Quintet by Frank Griffith (Pizza Express Dean Street, September 15th 2009) American saxophonist Steve Grossman , who has been resident in Bologna for 15 years, made a welcome return to London on Tuesday September 15th at the Pizza Express jazz club in Dean Street. Grossman's sideman credits include Miles Davis and Elvin Jones among many illustrious others. The...
David Ashkenazy Out With It Posi-Tone 2009 The jazz drumming tradition abounds in models for emulation and study, and two such models stand out in importance. For its sheer power, {{Elvin Jones = 8162}}' work with saxophonist {{John Coltrane = 5851}} imposes itself on any serious student of the drum set. The other would be {{Paul Motian = 9653}} whose oblique, deconstructivist approach appears liberated...
It was such a pleasure to receive this contribution yesterday from drummer/ bandleader Dylan Howe . You'll have read an awful lot of disengaged, uncommitted three and four star CD reviews. Well, this is isn't one. Howe hasn't stepped onto that production line: he has been immersing himself properly , as a musician, in the pleasures of getting to know an album, and reaping the rewards. Thank you Dylan,...
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