Anna Webber, with John Hollenbeck and Matt Mitchell – Simple (2014)
Webber laid bare her compositions, leaving it in a few, capable hands and in doing so, made them flourish.
Webber laid bare her compositions, leaving it in a few, capable hands and in doing so, made them flourish.
A summit meeting of progressive jazz titans, themed around the Great Lakes.
A prominent acid-jazz trio and an elite guitarist discover each other all over again.
Bajakian and Úlehla make “Ej, lásko, lásko” fresh and edgy, despite it’s long-ago, faraway origins.
Live in front of an audience is how this music demands to be played, if the musicians are good enough. Ben Tyree and BT3 are way more than ‘good enough.’
Not content to draw inspiration only from his influences, Shipp finds the insight for his music from himself, an earlier version of himself as interpreted by today’s version.
Yes, ‘Apocryphal’ is ethereal, an adjective that might be overused a tad, but it’s all about the way Vinnie Sperrazza and his three accomplices give the music that quality. It puts Sperrazza’s formal debut in a far corner of jazz that’s rarely occupied with so much moxie.
‘The Where’ is a solid step up from a level that was already high. No one should think jazz is stuck on neutral after listening to this trio, and one senses that they are just getting started.
‘Reflexology’ continues with Groder’s open-ended mastery, with a rhythm section that acts as a natural extension of its leader.
Why “Shake It Off” when you can “Give It Away”? Hawley answers that question.