Chris Kelsey
Chris’s Contributions
May 2009 • Albums
Every So Often
Ellery Eskelin, Sylvie Courvoisier
Ellery Eskelin’s determination to do his own thing at all costs might not have made him a household name, but it’s made him one of the most consistently interesting tenor saxophonists in jazz, which is undoubtedly what he set out to do anyway. He’s joined...
May 2009 • Albums
Prayer for My Ancestors
Azar Lawrence
With names like Alphonse Mouzon, Roy McCurdy and Azar Lawrence listed on the sleeve, you could be forgiven for expecting this to be either a re-release or a new release of a session recorded in the ’70s. Yet the music was recorded recently, and while some...
April 2009 • Albums
Yeraz
Trygve Seim/Frode Haltli
Tenor and soprano saxophonist Trygve Seim and accordionist Frode Haltli are joined on Yeraz by a third, non-corporeal member: silence. The space around and between the pair’s improvised exchanges exerts a powerful, nearly tangible presence, contributing...
March 2009 • Albums
Blending Times
Ravi Coltrane
An air of impulsive surrender suffuses this music, as if Ravi Coltrane aimed to embody Lennie Tristano’s musical philosophy of intuition and feeling. From E.J. Strickland’s cascading, rainstick-like drumming and Drew Gress’ malleable bass lines, to Luis...
March 2009 • Gearhead
Yamaha YAS- BP Alto Saxophone
In the interest of full disclosure, I should confess: There’s never been a time in my musical life when I didn’t own at least one Yamaha saxophone. The first horn I could really call my own was a Vito alto, which was basically a Yamaha stencil (although...
January/February 2009 • Gigbag
Gigbag: January/February 2009
George Garzone’s Tenor Wisdom Virtuoso mouthpiece craftsman Jody Espina expands into the instructional DVD market with The Music of George Garzone & the Triadic Chromatic Approach, a comprehensive presentation of the ideas behind the music of Berklee and...
December 2008 • Albums
Clockwise
Michael Bates
It’s no surprise that Greenleaf label owner Dave Douglas likes what he hears in the young bassist/composer Michael Bates, a musician who, like Douglas himself, evidences multifarious musical interests. From the Stravinsky-esque “Great Exhibition” to the...
December 2008 • Albums
Ten
Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra with special guests Steve Lacy & David Murray
Much of this music sounds like it could have been the soundtrack to a ’50s movie set in post-WWII Japan, one featuring big-band tunes played by a combination of traditional jazz instruments and indigenous Asian instruments. Unlike many recent fusions of...
December 2008 • Albums
Bert’s Playground
Ari Hoenig
Drummer Ari Hoenig is well known to habitués of Smalls, the downtown NYC club that for many years has fostered young jazz talent away from the spotlight that shines on larger, higher-profile venues. Hoenig’s recordings on the club’s associated label have...
December 2008 • Albums
This We Know
Michael Moore & Fred Hersch
According to the very brief liner notes, Michael Moore and Fred Hersch go back some 30 years, when both were students at Boston’s New England Conservatory. They certainly play like musicians with a conservatory background; both are polished, technically...
December 2008 • Albums
Ancestors
Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet
A dexterous bassist perhaps best known for his tenure in the late saxophonist Thomas Chapin’s wonderful ’90s trio, Mario Pavone is a splendid composer and bandleader, as well. His group plays a highly evolved postbop, his compositions (arranged by Steven...
September 2008 • Overdue Ovation
Jerry Bergonzi : Living and Learning
I’m still here, and I’m not a miserable S.O.B.!” says 58-year-old Jerry Bergonzi with a laugh when asked what he considers his greatest accomplishment. Certainly, the Boston-born-and-bred tenor saxophonist has reason to be content. Not only has he earned...
April 2008 • Albums
Amor de Cosmos
Michael Blake Sextet
Michael Blake is one of an all-too-common subset of the jazz community: players who create brilliant music while flying largely under the radar of widespread critical and/or popular acclaim. “Amor de Cosmos” was the name taken by William Alexander Smith...
April 2008 • Albums
Live at Café Montmartre 1966
Don Cherry
Recorded by the American trumpeter Cherry with a band that included the German vibist Karl Berger, French/Italian drummer Aldo Romano, Argentine tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri and Danish bassist Bo Stief, this is proof enough that by 1966 free-jazz was...
March 2008 • Albums
The Hilversum Session
Albert Ayler
Recorded in 1964 in the Dutch city of Hilversum, this album presents Albert Ayler in all his blowzy, testifying glory, fronting a quartet that includes trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray. The repertoire includes five Ayler...
December 2007 • Albums
Vision Towards Essence
Muhal Richard Abrams
At the risk of sounding like an ol’ geezer, it must be said that they don’t make ’em like Muhal Richard Abrams anymore. Few, if any, free-jazz pianists in their 30s and 40s can come within spitting distance of Abrams in terms of skill, originality and spirit...
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