Brian Gilmore
Brian’s Contributions
January/February 2005 Books
Dvorák to Duke Ellington: A Conductor Explores America’s Music and Its African-American Roots
Maurice Peress
There is a subtle theme running throughout classical conductor Maurice Peress’ new book: Did legendary Czech composer Antonin Dvorák’s brief visit to America at the turn of the century influence the direction of jazz composition into the Ellington era? When...
November 2003 Albums
The Dream Catcher (For Wilber Morris)
Kevin Norton Quartet
Drummer and vibraphonist Kevin Norton has everything going now. He is recording on a regular basis, often for his own label, Barking Hoop, and features some of the best experimental musicians on his albums. The Dream Catcher (For Wilber Morris) is powered...
October 2003 Albums
Divine Radiance
Tisziji Munoz
Tisziji Munoz is both mystical and mythological. His music is spiritually based at its core, and he is an artist who has successfully become insular and removed from the world of jazz and contemporary music. On his latest release, Divine Radiance, it is...
October 2003 Fusion
Caravanserai
Santana
I rarely ever play my copy of Carlos Santana's pop masterpiece Supernatural. I am proudly an old Santana guy. Label me a "Black Magic Woman," "Evil Ways" and "Tell Me Are You Tired" type. Columbia must have heard me whining about Carlos' rise to pop superstardom...
October 2003 Fusion
Hooteroll?
Howard Wales/Jerry Garcia
The Grateful Dead's legendary leader Jerry Garcia has always been considered a very good guitarist with versatility to match. And on Hooteroll? (Evolver), a 1971 collaboration with keyboardist Howard Wales, Garcia has plenty of moments to demonstrate that...
October 2003 Fusion
Soul Serenade
Derek Trucks Band
Soul Serenade (Columbia) by the Derek Trucks Band is one of the best albums I have heard this year. It won't matter how this album is classified, either, because it has it all. For those who liked Allman Brothers guitarist Trucks on his eponymous band's...
October 2003 Fusion
The First Seven Days
Jan Hammer
Keyboardist Jan Hammer recorded an album in 1975 called The First Seven Days (Columbia/Legacy). Like Duke Ellington's sacred concerts and John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, it was musician as preacher or philosopher. The First Seven Days has been lying dormant...
October 2003 Fusion
Cave Men
Antti Kotikoski/Steve Tavaglione/J.K. Kleutgens/Vinnie Colaiuta
What do you call an album recorded at a studio in North Hollywood, California called the Cave? Bassist J.K. Kleutgens and guitarist Antti Kotikoski naturally call their album Cave Men (J2K). Tenor and soprano saxophonist Steve Tavaglione and drummer Vinnie...
October 2003 Fusion
Abracadabra
Soft Works
Soft Works features ex-members of the legendary jazz-rock group Soft Machine, including bassist Hugh Hopper, saxophonist Elton Dean and drummer John Marshall along with frequent guest Machine guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Dean dominates the group's first offering...
October 2003 Fusion
The Rites
Burnt Sugar/Butch Morris/Pete Cosey/Melvin Gibbs
Guitarist and Village Voice writer Greg Tate's Burnt Sugar has been one of the most hyped bands I have ever encountered on the Web. Their future as a cutting-edge operation is secure, though I am hardly satisfied with the group's latest offering, The Rites...
September 2003 Albums
HR57 I
Celestial Communication Orchestra
By the time vocalist Ijeoma Thomas begins reciting Congressional Resolution HR-57, which proclaims jazz a national treasure, on the tune "HR-57 I" you have been officially forewarned that Alan Silva's legendary Celestial Communication Orchestra is about...
September 2003 Albums
With a Heartbeat
Pharoah Sanders/Graham Haynes
You will get the impression that With a Heartbeat, the new release by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and cornetist Graham Haynes, is the beginning of something major. It is hard to say what it is right now because the album only offers four songs for consumption...
July/August 2003 Albums
Trance Atlantic (Boom Bop II)
Jean-Paul Bourelly
Guitarist Jean Paul Bourelly's Trance-Atlantic (Boom-Bop II) is a recording that you will suspect is good just because of the lineup of musicians. Blues cornetist Olu Dara is on deck, as are saxophonist/flutist Henry Threadgill, bassist Reggie Workman and...
July/August 2003 Albums
The Detroit Experiment
Detroit Experiment
A project called "The Detroit Experiment" would have to include something, at least, loosely connected to Motown Records. Stevie Wonder's "Too High" is the entry, and it shines here as it has countless times before by many others. This time Wonder's tune...
July/August 2003 Albums
Jazz on Sale
Christian Howes
The hip-hop generation, and even those who came of age in the funk era, would probably describe Christian Howes as "off the chain." In other words, label Christian Howes as bold. This is evident initially from the first of two renditions of Monk's "Blue...
July/August 2003 Albums
Counterclockwise
Bobby Previte and Bump
Drummer Bobby Previte says that he records only when he has something to say. That is our loss, because judging by the power and force he exhibits on his latest offering, Counterclockwise, with his long-time group Bump, Previte clearly has something significant...
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ReportAbout Brian Gilmore
Poet, writer, and public interest attorney, Brian Gilmore is the author of two collections of poetry: "elvis presley is alive and well and living in harlem (Third World Press)" and "Jungle Nights and Soda Fountain Rags: poem for duke ellington (Karibu Books)." Currently, he is a contributing writer for ebony jet online, and a columnist with The Progressive Media Project.