Like the most artistically successful avanteers such as Mingus, Kirk and Braxton, the German composer, arranger and pianist Heiner Stadler fully understands, appreciates and loves the more traditional forms of jazz You May Also Like: Gregory Lewis, with Marc Ribot – Organ Monk Blue (2018)
by Mark Saleski If they had a jazz big band playing on that old TV show “Lost In Space,” this would be the one. Take a sort of big band lineup, but then mix in some 1960’s spacey keyboards and some truly wacky vocals. Sun Ra and his Arkestra wereRead More
by Mark Saleski Sorta like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman’s Song X has long been a strange attractor for all sorts of hyperbole, rumor-mongering and dismissal. You May Also Like: Why You Should Give Pat Metheny’s ‘Rejoicing’ Another Listen Pat Metheny, May 16, 2019: ShowsRead More
Last fall, we saluted the arrival of a new Richard Pinhas CD, Metal/Crystal, one that supplemented his trio with fellow experimentalist warriors Merzbow and Wolf Eyes. You May Also Like: Richard Pinhas, Tatsuya Yoshida & Merzbow – Process & Reality (2016) Keiji Haino, Merzbow, Balazs Pandi – An Untroublesome DefencelessnessRead More
Boston-based guitarist Eric Hofbauer penned the liner notes to his new album out today, Level, beginning it with the testimony that “the music on Level … explores the human condition using sound to tell stories You May Also Like: Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Lionel Loueke, Eric Harland – Aziza (2016)
Remember last month when I said I have more examples of weird-assed trios coming up? Here’s another one. Inspired by the long running Ray Anderson-led BassDrumBone trio, Brainkiller has Brian Allen manning the trombone and Hernan Hecht on drums, but substitutes the bass for keyboards and effects by Jacob Koller.Read More
Three of the most gifted improvisers in free jazz today released this week a studio follow-up from their well-received 2009 live debut. As fellow giants of the NYC downtown scene, William Parker, Craig Taborn and Gerald Cleaver know each well musically and personally (as noted before, Cleaver and Taborn goRead More
by Mark Saleski I have to purchase my Peter Brötzmann only very occasionally because it takes a while to get over the blatant intensity. Recorded at the Molde International Jazz Festival, this is really what European improvised jazz is all about. Well, maybe not all, but certainly a side ofRead More
The music of Wadada Leo Smith, no matter the setting, is spiritual, mesmerizing, purposeful and often dense. We found out back toward the end of ’09 just how dense his music can be You May Also Like: Wadada Leo Smith – Najwa (2017) Wadada Leo Smith and Orange Wave ElectricRead More
Three of the larger figures in the downtown New York avant jazz scene – Jim Black, Nels Cline and Tim Berne – join forces.
