Mike Shanley
Mike’s Contributions
09/08/11 Concerts
32nd Annual Detroit Jazz Festival
Wide-ranging weather and music at this year's Motor City event, directed by Jeff "Tain" Watts
08/27/11 Albums
If the Past Seems So Bright
Jeremy Udden's Plainville
Jeremy Udden named his group Plainville after his hometown in Massachusetts. His writing for the quintet incorporates pastoral rock and folk and puts more emphasis on ensemble sound; the compositions aren’t merely launching pads for soloists. Udden’s alto...
08/21/11 Albums
Orange Was the Color
Kirk Knuffke & Jesse Stacken
When assembling a tribute to Charles Mingus with just cornet and piano, Kirk Knuffke and Jesse Stacken, respectively, considered their limitations. This session contains no prayer meetings, hits in the soul, fight songs or any Mingus piece that depends on...
08/18/11 Albums
Knives From Heaven
Knives From Heaven
It might be best to consider Knives From Heaven’s self-titled release as a sound collage. Thirsty Ear touts it as a follow-up to Matthew Shipp vs. Antipop Consortium , the 2003 meeting of the inventive pianist and the equally inventive hip-hop group. But...
08/12/11 Albums
Out of This World’s Distortions
Farmers by Nature
Farmers By Nature is an improvisational trio consisting of Craig Taborn (piano), William Parker (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). All three have astounding track records in both this open style and more composed works. The title Out of this World’s Distortions...
07/22/11 Albums
Planetary Unknown
David S. Ware/Cooper-More/William Parker/Muhmmad Ali
These four musicians have all known each other for years, but never performed as a unit until they ventured into the studio last November. Saxophonist David S. Ware has played with bassist William Parker in the former’s quartet for nearly two decades, while...
07/09/11 Albums
Crosstalk
Marc Copland
“Talkin’ Blues” opens pianist Marc Copland’s latest album with a bit of deception. It’s not a blues, at least not one with a discernable familiar structure. What’s more intriguing, drummer Victor Lewis doesn’t play time throughout the seven-minute piece;...
06/16/11 Albums
Prayer for Peace
Stanley Cowell
Pianist Stanley Cowell hasn’t made an album in over a decade, but his teaching activities at Rutgers University have kept his skills as a soloist and bandleader sharp. When he takes off on Benny Carter’s chestnut “When Lights Are Low,” his phrasing, chordal...
06/04/11 Albums
Open Minds
Mads Vinding Trio
Bassist Mads Vinding begins his latest album with two songs closely associated with Miles Davis, and approaches them with more abstraction than the trumpeter did in the 1960s. On “Someday My Prince Will Come,” pianist Jean-Michel Pilc tiptoes around the...
05/18/11 Albums
Billy Bang/Bill Cole
Billy Bang/Bill Cole
Mike Shanley reviews album from live performance by the late violinist Billy Bang along with Bill Cole
May 2011 Albums
Year of the Tiger
Fred Ho and the Green Monster Big Band
Baritone saxophonist Fred Ho continues to develop a unique repertoire, reshaping cartoon theme songs, classic rock and pop and writing original compositions for large ensemble. Of those three areas of repertory, his own music sounds the strongest. The Office...
May 2011 Albums
Art of the Improviser
Matthew Shipp
At age 50, Matthew Shipp boasts one of the most prolific, consistent and challenging catalogs of any musician in his or her field. The pianist’s brain seems to fire on all cylinders all the time, and these two new releases present three different contexts...
May 2011 Albums
Cosmic Lieder
Darius Jones/Matthew Shipp
At age 50, Matthew Shipp boasts one of the most prolific, consistent and challenging catalogs of any musician in his or her field. The pianist’s brain seems to fire on all cylinders all the time, and two new releases present three different contexts in which...
04/05/11 Albums
Paraphrase
Matt Blostein-Vinnie Sperrazza Band
The fact that Matt Blostein and Vinnie Sperrazza share leadership duties isn’t too unusual in and of itself, save for the fact that their unit is a quartet, rather than a larger ensemble. Plus, they don’t share the frontline: Blostein plays alto sax, while...
March 2011 Albums
String Choir: The Music of Paul Motian
Joel Harrison
Joel Harrison has the right idea: When assembling a tribute to Paul Motian’s compositions, don’t use any percussion. No drummer colors a performance quite like Motian, so it’s better to focus all the attention on his other talent. From there Harrison takes...
March 2011 Albums
The Blue Mountain’s Sun Drummer
Wadada Leo Smith and Ed Blackwell
The music on The Blue Mountain’s Sun Drummer possesses a stripped-down sound, which makes sense because it comes from a duet concert. But Wadada Leo Smith and Ed Blackwell play with passion and cohesion that makes any additional instruments unnecessary...
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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.