Mike Shanley
Mike’s Contributions
November 2008 • Albums
Fade
Tim Collins
The vibraphone is one instrument that has yet to make the transition to pop music, not withstanding a few Frank Zappa albums and the ’70s soft-rock hit “Moonlight Feels Right.” Tim Collins could be one to break that barrier. On his second album he often...
November 2008 • Albums
Joe Hill: 16 Actions for Orchestra, Voices and Soloist
Wayne Horvitz
Wayne Horvitz’s lengthy career doesn’t conform to one specific musical genre. That’s partially why this magazine is reviewing a disc that states “File Under Classical” on the back cover. Clearly it can appeal to more than symphonic fans, and not just because...
November 2008 • Albums
Live at the Village Vanguard
Pendulum: Liebman, Brecker, Beirach, Tusa, Foster
By 1978, David Liebman had played with Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, founded the adventurous cooperative Free Life Communications and led a funk band with James Brown alum Pee Wee Ellis. Early that year, he booked a week at the Village Vanguard. The gig reunited...
November 2008 • Albums
Drop It
Corey Wilkes
Lester Bowie’s death left a big gap in the Art Ensemble of Chicago, but Windy City trumpeter Corey Wilkes proved an able successor on the rejuvenated group’s live Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City in 2006. Anyone expecting similar outward excursions on Drop...
November 2008 • Albums
This Musicship
Yuganaut
With ESP-Disk releasing new artists concurrently with the gradual reissue of its back catalog, Yuganaut’s music fits the spirit of the label. The trio straddles grounded compositions and improvisations that get both spacey and chaotic. Speaking of space...
10/17/08 • Concerts
Rudresh Mahanthappa in Pittsburgh
Rudresh Mahanthappa’s two-night appearance in Pittsburgh took place as part of the 2008 Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts, a 16-day performing and visual arts series. The alto saxophonist premiered Samdhi: Diasporic Connection, a suite inspired...
October 2008 • Albums
Boustrophedon
Evan Parker Transatlantic Art Ensemble
Nearly all of the 250-plus albums on which Evan Parker has appeared could be considered unusual or unique in one regard or another, but this disc has a particular reason for such a description: The leader’s soprano saxophone isn’t heard clearly as a solo...
September 2008 • Albums
Wonder Full: The Music of Stevie Wonder
Bill Ware And Vibes
Stevie Wonder’s best music is heavy, landing hits in both the gut and the conscience. Vibraphonist Bill Ware knows that but he doesn’t attempt to turn this tribute into a jazz-funk rave-up as he interprets 10 of the master’s songs. He reshapes the funk into...
August 2008 • Albums
Door
Fieldwork
Tension and suspense are two key qualities on Door: a gargled alto sax squawk lurking in the distance, stop-start beats played on the rims of the snare and bassy piano lines played in the low register more than make up for the trio’s lack of the stringed...
August 2008 • Albums
The European Quartet Live
Andy Middleton
By now, the music on this disc is three years old and its U.S. release comes a year after it dropped in Europe. Yet the lag time doesn’t take anything away from this live set by U.S. native Andy Middleton and his European Quartet. Middleton, who now calls...
August 2008 • Albums
Xenogenesis Suite
Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble
A few months after releasing the excellent Black Unstoppable, flutist Nicole Mitchell heads away from the previous album’s blend of free-blowing grooves and soul vocals toward something a little more sinister. Xenogenesis Suite is subtitled “A tribute to...
August 2008 • Albums
Coltrane in Spring
Tchicai/Müller/Munch-Hansen/Osgood
John Tchicai is arguably one of the few musicians who could successfully pay homage to John Coltrane with a poem, since the Danish saxophonist participated in the watershed Ascension sessions. So also can Tchicai be forgiven for a rather flat recitation...
06/11/08 • Concerts
Anthony Braxton in Pittsburgh
Anthony Braxton rarely performs in the United States, so his three-day appearance in Pittsburgh represented a unique opportunity matched only by the situation that lured him to town: performances at the National Aviary performing among—and, presumably, with—the...
June 2008 • Artist Profiles
Steven Bernstein: The Mix-Up
No one really knows who I am, but, man, I’m everywhere,” says trumpeter Steven Bernstein. The brass man, often seen blowing a slide trumpet in bands like Sex Mob or the Millennial Territory Orchestra, isn’t bragging, nor is he bemoaning a public that doesn’t...
June 2008 • Albums
Mental Weather
Jane Ira Bloom
Mental Weather begins and ends delicately, with Jane Ira Bloom’s soprano sax dueting with pianist Dawn Clement, and later standing alone, playing the standard “This Nearly Was Mine” following an original rumination. In both situations, Bloom’s engaging tone...
June 2008 • Albums
Trio (Victoriaville) 2007
Anthony Braxton
The cover of Trio (Victoriaville) 2007 offers an interesting analysis of Anthony Braxton. As he blows his bass saxophone, his contrabass sax towers in the background next to its baritone counterpoint. The framing of the photo makes it look as if the mouthpiece...
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ReportAbout Mike Shanley
Mike Shanley wishes there were more hours in the day to just sit and listen to music, probably with some coffee close at hand. A native of Pittsburgh, he served as arts & entertainment editor at two of that city's alternative newsweeklies, InPittsburgh and Pulp. In addition to JazzTimes, he freelances for Pittsburgh City Paper, Blurt and maintains a blog at www.shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com where he rambles on about whatever has landed on the turntable or disc player at that moment. His writing has appeared in Harp, Pittsburgh Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and on the website PopCity.com. He has also played bass guitar in a number of Pittsburgh indie rock bands over the past two decades.