Progressive - CD Reviews (378)
Orchestral jazz comes in many flavors and colors. Here, German trumpeter and composer Volker Goetze's arrangements teem with expansive tonalities, layered horns and emphatic soloing by his legion of artists.
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Ant-Bee (Billy James) is a multi-instrumentalist and producer who is often revered for his forays into early mechanisms of progressive-pop and rock. Known for cutting-edge productions, featuring members of the Mothers of Invention, Captain Beefheart's Magic Band and Alice Copper's ensembles, Ant-Bee's first album since the 1997 release Lunar Music,…
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After performing with modern day pioneers and revered mainstream jazz artists, vibist Chris Dingman steps out with a fascinating and irrefutably, enlivening debut solo release. Framed upon his personal life amid the highs and lows spanning the past decade, Dingman parallels the emotive element during these seamlessly engineered works that…
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Saxophonist and composer Ohad Talmor, now a Brooklynite, came to the United States by way of both Israel and Switzerland. He has garnered not only rave reviews but also peer recognition having played in the Steve Swallow Trio, the Mass Transformation nonet, and with artists such as Jason Moran, Josh…
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Saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist and 2011 ASCAP Young Composers Award winner Joshua Kwassman studied at the New School in New York. He has also spent time studying with established jazz artists including keyboardist Rachel Z, saxophonist Mark Turner and bassist Reggie Workman. As a performer he has worked with artists like…
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Bassist, cellist and composer Buell Neidlinger, born in 1936, came up by playing with Herbie Nichols, Oran "Hot Lips" Page, and Vic Dickenson, among others. With his apprenticeships done, Neidlinger started working with artists like Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Rex Stewart and for seven years with pianist Cecil…
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Electronic whiiiiiiiine! Clatter! Softer whiiine. Clopping of an uncoordinated, seven-legged pony. Screeech! Scrunch. Electronic drone. Yada, yada, yada. If that's your idea of either fun or how to extend the possibilities of trumpet playing, you'll love this album. Otherwise, for all but the most open minded-- or gullible-- this is…
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With its 20th album, this Chicago-based outfit continues to abide by a multitasking line of attack while spreading good karma throughout the broad plane of progressive-rock idioms. Hence, the group's charismatic persona and clever arrangements imprint a symbol of authenticity.
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White Hills' second album for Thrill Jockey records is in part, based on corporate misgivings and an insipid quality of life in America. Here, the musicians generate space-rock, modern psychedlia and noise music to shape a rather punishing sequence of events. And from the noise or volume perspective, these gents would…
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Founder of the seminal progressive-rock band King Crimson, guitarist Robert Fripp employs his legendary Frippertronics effects with formidable saxophonist Theo Travis on this resonating live release culled from a performance at the Coventry Cathedral in the U.K. Travis’ work with the Soft Machine Legacy instills a deep-rooted sense of British progressive-rock…
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New York-based organist Jared Gold leads a no-nonsense set of original progressive jazz compositions on All Wrapped Up, his fourth release for Posi Tone Records. Along with a trio of acclaimed sidemen—tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen, trumpeter Jim Rotundi and drummer Quincy Davis—Gold draws deep into the well of organ-led jazz,…
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Who would have guessed that British singer and actress Julie Tippetts, known for her work with organ great Brian Auger; affiliations with Rod Stewart and recordings with husband, pianist Keith Tippett would lead to her alliance with avant-gardist Martin Archer? Stranger things have happened as they say, yet with the…
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The significance behind influential guitarist Bill Frisell’s 858 Quartet theme was conceived several years ago when he was appointed to compose music inspired by artist Gerhard Richter’s 858 series of paintings. With the band’s first album in five years, its purveyance of modern Americana elicits lucid imagery via these seventeen…
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One of the preeminent soprano saxophonists in modern jazz, Jane Ira Bloom possesses more than just technique. Very few jazz artists are able to project a distinct or personalized sound. For example, most ardent jazz aficionados would be able to identify her in a Downbeat magazine style blindfold test. Once…
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Adventurous expressionism is a key factor within semi-structured or avant jazz-based endeavors. With their second quartet outing for Intakt Records, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and violinist Mark Feldman cover a gamut of articulately designed modes of interaction. Introspective, sublime and occasionally foreboding, the quartet engineers a potpourri of delicacies, all executed…
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A future progressive-jazz and improvising icon, British saxophonist John Surman’s 1969 NDR workshop session for a German broadcast equates to previously unreleased material featuring other rising stars. With Canadian trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and British saxophonist Mike Osborne on hand, the large ensemble casts an exciting aural glimpse of the burgeoning…
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Adding to his growing body of work for Seattle's Origin Records, trumpeter Chad McCullough teams up with Belgian pianist Bram Weijters for Imaginary Sketches, a compelling set of original compositions, full of lyricism and harmonic delight. Along with bassist Chuck Deardorf and drummer John Bishop, the works as a showcase…
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A pivotal jazz luminary in New York City’s progressive downtown scene, alto saxophonist Tim Berne has notched his name into the record books as an innovator and stylist. His discography and collaborations are well-documented. However, Berne’s a global artiste who recurrently investigates nouveau spins on jazz and improvisation. This release…
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It's a bold endeavor to believe you can invoke freshness and vitality into thinly worn standards like "Body and Soul," "All the Things You Are" and "My Funny Valentine." Trumpeter Cuong Vu meets the challenge head-on with imaginative results on Leaps of Faith, a quartet outing with wide-open improvisatory exploration,…
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1999 Carmine Caruso Jazz Trumpet Competition award winner Thomas Marriott has worked in Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau band, and with artists like Rosemary Clooney, Ritchie Cole, Charlie Hunter, Kenny Kirkland, Joe Locke, The Chico O’Farrill Orchestra, and The Tito Puente Orchestra, among others. Overall Marriott has appeared on over…
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