10 Jun
North of the North by Mark Pichelin - Xavier Charles - Ivar Grydeland
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
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This Norway-based avant-garde record label generally looms as a source of amazement. Its catalog features cutting-edge Scandinavian artistes and others, where free-jazz …
04 Jun
Cold Peace Counterpoints by Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer
Wednesday, 04 June 2008
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A resident of France since 1991, Yugoslavian born and classically trained composer/instrumentalist Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer is a prominent artist who engages projects wit…
Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Mariusz Duda is the lead singer for the progressive band Riverside and embarks with fellow Polish artists on this curiously in…
New York based Canadian saxophonist and composer, Quinsin Nachoff, is one of the leading innovators of modern/neo-classical jazz music today. His last release, Magic…
When she started out she was known simply as Lucinda, her repertoire consisting of traditional country blues stylistically she recalled the early years of Bonnie Raitt (…
While the mid to late ‘60s psychedelic era was forming in the San Francisco Bay Area, Britain was undergoing a pop and Cultural Revolution via the London Free School and…
30 Mar
Rock DVD: Go Ride The Music & West Pole by Various
Sunday, 30 March 2008
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The late jazz and rock music journalist Ralph J. Gleason is credited for highlighting the burgeoning the late ‘60s San Francisco psychedelic rock scene while also co-fou…
Multi-instrumentalist Brian Carpenter formed this delightfully off-center band back in 2002 and enlists progressive jazz luminaries, saxophonist Briggan Krauss and tromb…
Longtime cellist with the cutting-edge chamber ensemble Kronos Quartet, Joan Jeanrenaud developed these works over several years, as a result of experimentation and pers…
Singer, songwriter, producer, guitarist, and saxophonist Van Morrison has been at the game a good long time. An Irish lad smitten with the American sounds imported to th…
This self-produced release exemplifies the healthy state of independent jazz. With elements of world jazz, Latin jazz and straight ahead grooves, they defy easy categori…
01 Jul
As We Know It by Brian Brian Patneaude Quartet
Sunday, 01 July 2007
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Saxophonist Brian Patneaude’s latest recording, As We Know It, features his long-standing quartet in which he leads. Brian Patneaude was born in 1974 in Schenec…
Frank Kimbrough is based in New York where he honed his craft as a solo pianist. He has been involved with the Jazz Composers Collective, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, …
Here, French bassist and supreme experimentalist Bruno Chevillon delves into avant, (acoustic & electric) bass and electronica for this cutting-edge record label. With a…
Banjoist Jake Schepps, violin master Ryan Drickey, guitarist Greg Schochet (who also plays mandolin), and string bassist Eric Thorin have combined their estimable talent…
04 Jun
Spark! by Marty Ehrlich and Myra Melford
Monday, 04 June 2007
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Marty Ehrlich and Myra Melford have been collaborating since 2000, and Spark! is evidence of the supernatural musical bond the two have built with each other. You …
11 May
The Gift: A Tribute To Ian Tyson by Various Artists
Friday, 11 May 2007
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The Gift is a perfect title for this tribute in homage to the vast musical riches bestowed by cowboy poet/western troubadour Ian Tyson. A Canadian folk hero, Mr…
07 May
Time Stops To Visit by Jim Connolly and The Gove County Philarmonic
Monday, 07 May 2007
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A scaled-down connotation of a more familiar philharmonic setting, bassist/composer and ringleader Jim Connolly steers a well-rounded, divergent and highly-entertaining …
Without having the source material at hand, I cannot discern as to what French music producer Marc Collin may have done (if anything) to these seventeen pieces culled fr…
Pianist Harold O’Neal, a veteran of recordings with Greg Osby and Bobby Watson, has an impressive first outing in this mesmerizing collaboration with guitarist Rick Gibb…
25 Apr
Le Pop 4 - les chansons de la nouvelle scene francais by Various
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
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This album signifies the latest compilation from the French Le Pop Musik record label highlighting the country’s bands, and vocalists. And it’s a fun and irrefu…
18 Apr
DVD: A Night At The Family Dog by Jefferson Airplane - The Grateful Dead - Santana
Wednesday, 18 April 2007
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This is a welcome blast from the past for us over-50 types, as the footage captures a triple-bill featuring some of the founding fathers of psychedelic and Latin-jazz/ro…
11 Apr
The Spaces In Between by John Surman
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
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Preeminent British multi-reedman John Surman revisits the chamber-jazz framework honed-down on the 1999 ECM Records release "Coruscating." Surman states: "We’ve p…
06 Apr
Fantasy by Bill Mays - The Inventions Trio Featuring Marvin Stamm
Friday, 06 April 2007
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Pianist Bill Mays and trumpet maestro Marvin Stamm open this exquisite collection with a delightful duo on "Baubles, Bangles and Beads." As impressive as the opening dia…
Let’s get this one thing straight: Thunk is not jazz by any interpretation. Electronica? By a stretch. Techno rap?. Well, if nothing else, those among us who ar…
02 Mar
Crosswinds: Classical & Jazz by Leanne Rees
Friday, 02 March 2007
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There has always been a good deal of classical/jazz crossover going on over the years, but it is notable that the musicians who seem to excel at both genres are primarily j…
22 Feb
Quartet of Happiness by Quartet Quartet of Happiness
Thursday, 22 February 2007
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A friend of mine, a punk rock drummer once shouted from the stage at an awards show before the band started to play, ‘This is not the music your grandmother listened to.…
There are standout artists who’ve prevailed over the years not just because of the novelty of their instruments as used in the contemporary or smooth jazz genre, but als…
15 Feb
Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot! by Imani Winds
Thursday, 15 February 2007
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Having reviewed two recitals by Imani Winds over the past year, it is a pleasure to receive their latest recording, the music from the first of these performances, t…
01 Feb
A Love Supreme/The Legacy of John Coltrane by Turtle Island Quartet
Thursday, 01 February 2007
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Why all these categories? A Love Supreme features a string quartet ("classical") playing Coltrane ("jazz") so this release becomes "crossover" - a word suggestive of…
Smooth, soothing, and swaying soft rock/R&B rhythms and melodies mark this latest project by the very recognizable Simply Red. Mick Hucknall’s inimitable vocals are as s…
It is never a good thing when a recording arrives and the first line of the press release refers to it as "Genre Defying". I always think that is like when you go on a b…
Some jazz musicians may incorporate steel pans for effect or atmosphere, but few of them maintain the sound of steel pans as a consistent component of their music. Not A…
Strunz & Farah - Fantaseo- (2006 Selva, Inc.) Acoustically animated over three decades this duo has mystified the jazz populace. A style so diverse it chall…
Western swing is the crossroad where jazz and western music collide magically and musically. Most famously popularized by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1930s a…
Jam Camp, an aptly named group of five musicians, has released a live album. The album Live, is also aptly named. The happy fact about both band and album is t…
17 Aug
30 Years Of Stony Plain by Various Artists
Thursday, 17 August 2006
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Canada’s pre-eminent Roots, Folk, Country, and Blues label just celebrated its 30th anniversary and marked the festive occasion with a comprehensive retrospective via a …
24 Jul
Bullfighter Ballet by The Wings of Fire Orchestra
Monday, 24 July 2006
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The Wings of Fire Orchestra is America’s self-proclaimed largest rock orchestra, and Bullfighter Ballet is their debut studio recording. The band hails from Boston, MA, …
On the back of Johan Berke’s CD titled The Cactus Suite it lists all the players on this album but also says with guests: Jan Eriksson on lap and pedal and Barr…
Knowing that there is much good European Jazz that never makes it to the U.S. market, I was excited at the prospect of reviewing this collection from the UK label LINN. …
Historically, there have been a number of interesting attempts to create a "third stream" of sorts merging Country/Western/Bluegrass and Jazz: from the origins of "Weste…
Born December 5th, 1960 in Tucson Arizona, Brian Bromberg grew up in a family of musicians and artists. Since his father and brother played the dru...
30 Jun
Smoke Inside by DANIELE CAVALLANTI ELECTRIC UNIT WITH NELS CLINE
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Jazz Spotlights
Daniele Cavallanti, a veteran sax player from the critically acclaimed groups "Nexus" and "Italian Instabile Orchestra" joins forces with his old f...
25 Jun
Live at Her Majestys Theatre by Tommy Emmanuel
Sunday, 25 June 2006
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Tommy Emmanuel hails from Australia and started playing guitar at the early age of four, going on to officially begin his professional career at the ripe old age of six!…
16 Jun
The Passing Show (The Life & Music of Ronnie Lane) DVD by Ronnie Lane
Friday, 16 June 2006
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Founder for "The Small Faces," guitarist/vocalist and composer Ronnie Lane lost his battle with multiple sclerosis in 1997 at age 51. This DVD charts the "The Small Face…
02 Jun
Songs from 1st Samuel 16:16-23 by T Moody
Friday, 02 June 2006
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I’ll tell you: When I first went to this artist’s Web site, I thought I mistyped the URL! The Web site talks about how T. Moody’s sound so resembles that of the classic …
For several years, Johannes Linstead has been regarded as one of the top Latin guitarists in the world. His most recent CD Café Tropical does nothing to dispel th…
Miki Petkovki’s unique approach here on Origins truly challenges listeners to step outside the box and experience an experience. His use of "hybrid times," irregular…
A lot of presence. That’s how I’d best describe Paper Moon, a two-year-old guitar duo with a unique and diverse background. Scot Taber is trained in flamenco and c…
First of all, when reading the musician credits, some of you may ask: What in the world is a bandoneón? Happy to provide some education on the subject, my friends. The band…