Bill Meredith
Bill’s Contributions
December 2008 Albums
Heartfelt
Christian Howes
Violinists often appear to be square pegs when trying to fit into jazz, since most, like their instruments, have classical backgrounds. Christian Howes offers up a curious attempt to bridge the classical-jazz gap on his latest release, Heartfelt, but then...
December 2008 Albums
Stones World
Tim Ries
Saxophonist Tim Ries can’t be criticized for being all over the place on his latest release, the double-CD Stones World. That was his intention. A member of the Rolling Stones’ touring band since 1999, Ries interprets a dozen of the group’s tunes here, with...
November 2008 Gearhead
Sabian Vault Crossover Ride Cymbal
Founded in 1981, the Canadian company Sabian is the fledgling among the world’s four leading cymbal manufacturers, predated by earlier 20th-century European innovators Paiste and Meinl and venerable 17th-century cymbal godfather Zildjian. Robert Zildjian...
November 2008 Albums
Alone Together
Tim Hagans
Veteran trumpeter Tim Hagans always displays an expressive tone, whether on burning postbop numbers or decelerated ballads, and he wastes no time in showing both extremes on the new Alone Together. Along with pianist Marc Copland, bassist Drew Gress and...
November 2008 Albums
Wine and Pickles
Mike Keneally
Few artists can make a coherent CD with outtakes from a decade’s worth of previous releases. But very few musicians are capable of the ambidexterity of Southern California multi-instrumentalist Mike Keneally, who refers to Wine and Pickles in its liner notes...
November 2008 DVDs
Imaginary Day Live
Pat Metheny Group
Guitarist Pat Metheny thumbed his nose at the recording industry in 1994 with the CD Zero Tolerance for Silence, but its 40 minutes of white-noise feedback proved a point. Metheny knew he was popular enough for a major label like Geffen not to release it...
October 2008 Artist Profiles
Flecktone Jeff Coffin: Constant Change
Saxophonist Jeff Coffin has recorded with his Mu’tet band every few years since joining Béla Fleck and the Flecktones in 1997, and arranged solo touring dates around that quartet’s schedule. Such was the plan this year after the release of his stellar new...
October 2008 Features
Randy Brecker: Saudades
Only rare musicians can claim enough recording credits to warrant discographies of more than a few pages. Trumpeter Randy Brecker has a star-studded, single-spaced, 16-page scroll on his Web site that practically maps the history of recorded music during...
October 2008 Albums
BANG!
Frank Catalano
Every musician’s playing is an extension of his or her personality, and tenor saxophonist Frank Catalano’s natural exuberance is on display throughout his sixth CD, BANG! The Chicago native draws from a hometown hero in saxophonist Von Freeman, an early...
September 2008 Albums
The Latin Side of Wayne Shorter
Conrad Herwig
If you don’t recognize Conrad Herwig’s name, it may be because of where he’s from and what he does. But the Oklahoma native’s occupation—professor of jazz trombone, improvisation, and composition/arrangement at Rutgers University in New Jersey—gives a clue...
September 2008 Albums
Jazz in Bel-Air
Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon may be best known as a charter member of Weather Report, but the drummer’s constant spirit of musical wanderlust has always kept him from having a higher profile. His tenure in the group was brief, a constant throughout a session-heavy 40...
September 2008 Albums
The Anthology
Return To Forever
Return to Forever was a Latin jazz band in the early 1970s, a fusion act in the mid-’70s, and a big band in the late ’70s, but this is an anthology of only its most commercially successful middle period of 1973-1976. Bandleader Chick Corea, like most personnel...
August 2008 Albums
Floating Point
John McLaughlin
The first 10 years of British guitarist John McLaughlin’s 40-year career featured some amazing work with Miles Davis, plus groundbreaking solo releases and banner albums with both the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti. That South Indian group released its...
August 2008 Albums
If People Could Talk
Vic Stevens’ Mistaken Identities
Drummer Vic Stevens has proven to be a fine sideman, particularly with outside-the-box guitarists such as Allan Holdsworth, David Torn and David Fiuczynski. His recording career as a leader, however, hasn’t equaled that success. Whether with the McGill/Manring...
August 2008 Artist Profiles
George Schuller’s Circle Wide: Round Repertory
Themed tribute CDs have become a popular way for modern jazz artists and recording labels to produce more “hits,” at least those of the Internet era’s search-engine variety. For Brooklyn-based drummer George Schuller’s band, Circle Wide, tributes have less...
August 2008 Albums
Mutopia
Jeff Coffin Mu’tet
When saxophonist Jeff Coffin joined Béla Fleck & the Flecktones in 1997, he righted their ship. That quartet had released three stellar CDs during 1990-1992, but when original keyboardist/harmonica player Howard Levy left, a void was created. The remaining...
E-mail
Share
RSS
ReportAbout Bill Meredith
Native Floridian Bill Meredith started a career as a freelance journalist in 1992, seven years after beginning his career as a drummer, percussionist and vocalist. Aside from occasional sportswriting, his two musical careers have paid the bills ever since. In 2006, he opened for B.B. King with blues band the Hellhounds, a few months after his second interview with Chick Corea. Meredith has also written for Jazziz, City Link and Closer, and his various bands have opened for Ani DiFranco, Johnny Winter and Warren Hill.
Bill Meredith joined the JazzTimes community on Jan 31, 2008