Catchy Riffs, Ambitious Stylistic Leaps and Irrepressible Fun from David...
People who play off-the-wall instruments tend to write off-the-wall music. David Dominique’s axe is the flugabone, a higher-pitched valve trombone usually limited to marching-band music. As you might...
View ArticleA Broodingly Catchy, Lithely Orchestrated Album and a Week at the Vanguard by...
Duke Ellington liked suites. So does Edward Simon. Likewise, the jazz icon and the Venezuelan pianist share classical roots, a genius for orchestration and a completely outside-the box sensibility....
View ArticleAn Inspired New School Big Band Plays Haunting and Propulsive Darcy James...
What’s the likelihood of being able to see this era’s most fearsomely relevant composer in big band jazz leading a diversely talented ensemble in a comfortable Manhattan auditorium, for free? It...
View ArticleTop Tier Talent Celebrate Women in Jazz Out Back of Lincoln Center
This July 3 at 7:30 PM, for the second year in a row, there’s a celebration of women in jazz at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing series in Damrosch Park. The lineup last year was kiler and so is...
View ArticleLyrical Piano Icon Fred Hersch Hasn’t Played the Vanguard Since January, So...
The Vanguard is pianist Fred Hersch‘s home base, and it’s been six months since he played there. So he’s due, and he’s back for a stand starting on July 23 through the 28th with his long-running,...
View ArticleEpic Bustle and Thump and Entertainment From the Uncategorizably Fun...
Was it worth leaving this year’s Charlie Parker Festival early to catch the NYChillharmonic last night at Joe’s Pub? Absolutely. Who knows, maybe someday singer/keyboardist Sara McDonald’s lavish...
View ArticleEpic Big Band Surrealism and a Jazz Standard Gig From the Michael Leonhart...
The Michael Leonhart Orchestra‘s previous album traced the epic journey of a swarm of butterflies all the way from Mexico to Egypt. Breathtaking as that trip over the top of the globe was, Leonhart’s...
View ArticleWorld-Famous Big Band Celebrates Pantheonic Painters
Since prehistory, musicians have been inspired by visual art. But there’s never been a big band jazz album featuring works by multiple composers referencing paintings from across the decades. The new...
View ArticleEpic, Stormy Grandeur From Mike Holober and the Gotham Jazz Orchestra
Pianist Mike Holober has been busy as an arranger lately – his charts for the NDR Bigband are out-of-the-box exquisite – but has made a welcome return to his role as leader of the Gotham Jazz...
View ArticleA Playful, Entertaining, Expertly Choreographed Change of Pace for the Satoko...
This is not to suggest that there could possibly be any upside to the coronavirus crisis for anyone other than a criminal – but at least it’s been a chance to catch up on what one of this era’s most...
View ArticlePrime Early Orchestral Duke Ellington From the Jazz at Lincoln Center...
What do you do when your big band can’t play any gigs because of the lockdown? You put out an album to keep your fans satisfied until you can get back onstage. More of the large ensembles who play big...
View ArticleTowering, Funky, Innovative Big Band Jazz From Organist Matthias Bublath’s...
From the first few spiraling seconds of the intro to the first track on the Eight Cylinder Bigband’s debut album – streaming at Spotify – it’s obvious that this is not your average large jazz ensemble....
View ArticleFiercely Relevant, Epic Grandeur From Pianist Arturo O’Farrill’s Mighty Big Band
Pianist Arturo O’Farrill has made a career out of writing witheringly insightful, relevant, politically fearlesss jazz. His brilliantly symphonic 2014 album The Offense of the Drum, with his Afro Latin...
View ArticleThe Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Won’t Stop Raiding the Archives for Good...
What could possibly be subversive about a toe-tapping, hard-swinging big band jazz album offering a fond nod back to the golden age sounds of the 50s? If you’re in New York, that kind of music is...
View ArticleA Savagely Insightful, Timely Antiwar Album From Guitarist Joel Harrison + 18
At a time when citizens outside of Sweden are battling the global lockdown, guitarist Joel Harrison‘s latest album America at War – streaming at Bandcamp – couldn’t have more relevance. Harrison and...
View ArticleA Slightly More Subtle But Hardly Subdued Album From the Explosive Captain...
Of all the projects that pianist Orrin Evans has his fingers in, his Captain Black Big Band are arguably the most exciting. They’re definitely the loudest. It’s amazing how Evans manages to find the...
View ArticleGoing Through Hell with One of the World’s Greatest Jazz Orchestras
What could be more appropriate for this year than an album about a trip through hell? When the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis recorded their live performance of alto saxophonist...
View ArticleGregg August’s Shattering, Epic New Album Confronts Racist Evil
Bassist Gregg August has somehow found the time to put out one of the most powerful, relevant albums in any style of music over the last several months. Dialogues on Race – streaming at Bandcamp – is a...
View ArticleColorful, Entertaining Reinventions of Famous Classical Themes From the Mike...
The Mike Fahie Jazz Orchestra‘s new album Urban(e) – streaming at Bandcamp – is one of the most genuinely orchestral jazz records ever made. On one level, it’s all about imaginative, outside-the-box...
View ArticleA Triumphant Protest Jazz Suite Celebrates a Landmark Arkansas Victory on the...
Pianist Christopher Parker and singer Kelley Hurt initially conceived of their epic No Tears Suite – streaming at Bandcamp – to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Little Rock Nine’s landmark...
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