Michael J. West
Michael J.’s Contributions
12/07/12 Albums
Means of Deliverance
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell’s sound on the Warwick Alien—a newly designed fretless acoustic bass guitar—is astonishingly beautiful. Its core is the thick-string timbre of the upright, but rounder and more malleable, ideal for harmonic low-end drones supporting the guitaristic...
12/02/12 Undertones
Moraga
Carol Robbins
The very presence of a harp, Carol Robbins’ instrument, can cloak jazz in the veneer of new age. On Moraga , it does, and the Windham Hill vibe is amplified by low-key tunes and the presence of Gary Meek’s soprano saxophone and Larry Koonse’s classical guitar...
11/30/12 Albums
Angelic Warrior
Tia Fuller
Angelic Warrior is a veritable almanac of the alto saxophone in contemporary mainstream jazz. Tia Fuller gives her distinctive sound a full and exhilarating workout, with bop (“Cherokee”), Coltrane-esque modal jams (“Royston Rumble”), Caribbean flavor (“Descend...
11/25/12 Albums
The Columbia Albums 1971-1975
Weather Report
Weather Report’s first six albums, as Bill Milkowski reflects in the notes for Columbia’s collection thereof, saw the fusion legends move from “an electric avant-garde band that appealed strictly to the cognoscenti” to “a ferocious groove-oriented juggernaut...
11/22/12 Undertones
Nadje Noordhuis
Nadje Noordhuis
With a few exceptions, trumpeter/flugelhornist Nadje Noordhuis’ debut recording is all soft-colored, European-inspired melodies and gentle rhythms. It’s an extremely muted album, in other words, but that fact doesn’t diminish its power. Noordhuis has a sweet...
11/16/12 Albums
Organ Monk: Uwo in the Black
Greg Lewis
The arrangements that organist Greg Lewis uses on Organ Monk: Uwo in the Black , his second quartet album of guess-whose music, show little to no deviation from Monk’s. Instead, Lewis expresses his astonishing originality through his aggressive instrumental...
11/10/12 Features
Dave Douglas: Room to Breathe
The trumpeter discusses his quintet music, his prolific output and more
11/04/12 Overdue Ovation
Allen Vizzutti: Road Warrior
A prolific trumpeter fluent in jazz, classical and more
09/22/12 Features
The Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival
The Kennedy Center's long-running event continues on the path laid down by its founder, Dr. Billy Taylor
09/03/12 Features
Davy Mooney Invents His Own Tradition
7-string guitarist gets a push from John Pizzarelli
08/14/12 Albums
Crosscurrents
Gunnar Mossblad
Featuring a quintet drawn from the University of Toledo’s Jazz Studies faculty (of which the headliner, saxophonist Gunnar Mossblad, is head), CrossCurrents won’t blunt criticisms that contemporary jazz is abstruse and too, well, academic. Its 11 original...
08/09/12 Features
The Brain on Bop
Dr. Charles Limb researches the neurological miracles behind jazz improvisation
08/07/12 Albums
Béla Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio
Across the Imaginary Divide
Across the Imaginary Divide ’s stylistic blend works best when tilting in banjoist Béla Fleck’s direction. It’s not that pianist Marcus Roberts falls short in either playing or concept, embracing old-school traditions as well as modernism. Far from it. Roberts...
06/25/12 Albums
Holy Abyss
Joel Harrison & Lorenzo Feliciati
Guitarist Joel Harrison doesn’t repeat himself. His last three albums included a long-form fusion soundscape, acoustic Americana and a with-strings tribute to Paul Motian. His two fine new releases, Holy Abyss (a collaboration with bassist Lorenzo Feliciati...
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ReportAbout Michael J. West
Michael J. West has loved jazz since he was a teenager in North Carolina, but it wasn't until moving to the big city--Washington, D.C.--after college that he became a devoted fanatic. In addition to JazzTimes, he covers jazz for the Washington City Paper. His work has also appeared in the Village Voice, TBD, Jazz.com, the Monterey County Weekly and the East Bay Express. West lives in D.C., near the "jazz district" of U Street, with his wife and daughter.
Michael J. West joined the JazzTimes community on Jun 13, 2008