Brent Burton
Brent’s Contributions
October 2007 • Albums
El Espiritu Jibaro
Roswell Rudd & Yomo Toro
It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: Yomo Toro is an impressive guitarist. The Puerto Rican virtuoso flits effortlessly from note to note, blurring time while remaining fluidly funky. His acoustic soloing evokes the speed and delicacy of hummingbird...
July/August 2007 • Albums
The Third Quartet
John Abercrombie Quartet
In jazz, it seems, it pays to be in your face or achingly sweet. Veteran guitarist John Abercrombie is neither. Though more nimble than most, he shows little interest in guitar heroism. And his playing, which is recognizable for its rich, silvery tone, is...
April 2007 • Albums
Nomad
Gato Libre
Jazz fans are, by now, used to globalization. But, for some reason, Japanese Latin-jazz quartet Gato Libre still seems odd. It’s not that the music is awkward. Far from it. Nomad, the second full-length from trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and co., is nothing if...
April 2007 • Albums
The Words and the Days
Enrico Rava Quintet
Enrico Rava is arguably the first Italian jazz musician to make it in the Big Apple. The trumpeter named an early record Il Giro Del Giorno in 80 Mondi (“Trip Around the Day in 80 Worlds”), and he has spent much of his subsequent career moving back and forth...
January/February 2007 • Albums
Streaming
Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell
In the press materials for Streaming, his new album with pianist Muhal Richard Abrams and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, trombonist and laptopper George Lewis says the music made by this leaderless trio is “open,” not “free.” The difference? In Lewis’ words...
January/February 2007 • Albums
Momentum
Dave Burrell
For most who have heard of him, Dave Burrell is inextricably linked to a time when chaos was king. The 66-year-old pianist plays on some of the New Thing’s most memorable freak-outs—Pharoah Sanders’ Tauhid and Sonny Sharrock’s Black Woman, among others—and...
November 2006 • Albums
Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City: Live at the Iridium
Art Ensemble of Chicago
The deaths of trumpeter Lester Bowie, in 1999, and bassist Malachi Favors, in 2004, have reduced the legendary Art Ensemble of Chicago to just three original members: drummer Don Moye and saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman. The Bowie- and Jarman...
November 2006 • Albums
Frequency
Frequency
If the avant-garde act Frequency is, for the most part, somewhat less than avant-garde, it’s probably because the Chicago quartet revisits so many elements of its hometown past. Burbling percussion? Whimsical riffs? Atonal squall? Check, check and double...
July/August 2006 • Albums
Saudades
Trio Beyond
According to leader Jack DeJohnette, Trio Beyond is based on the Tony Williams Lifetime, a pioneering outfit that, like fusion itself, spanned the gamut from rough and raging to slick and simmering. DeJohnette, of course, is well versed in the period: In...
June 2006 • Albums
Deez to Blues
Mario Pavone Sextet
Despite being 17 albums into a career as leader, bassist Mario Pavone is perhaps best known for his stint with the Thomas Chapin trio, a Knitting Factory-affiliated group that was capable of some of the most tuneful and energizing jazz of the early- and...
May 2006 • Albums
Garden of Eden
Paul Motian Band
Paul Motian, a septuagenarian who once worked with Thelonious Monk, says that the larger of his two regular groups, a semirepertory septet that used to be called the Paul Motian Electric Bebop Band but is now known as the Paul Motian Band, was formed “to...
May 2006 • Albums
Goodbye Svengali
Ray Russell
You probably know Ray Russell’s playing even if you’ve never heard the guy’s name. The British guitarist, a pro since 1963, has added licks to James Bond flicks as well as to popular albums by Tina Turner and Robert Plant. Much of his nonsession work, however...
May 2006 • Albums
Vossabrygg
Terje Rypdal
Vossabrygg, the latest from Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal, recorded live at the Vossa Jazz festival, is something of a tribute to one of jazz-rock’s most sacred artifacts, Miles Davis’ circa-’69 head-expander Bitches Brew. Rypdal, a guitarist whose playing...
December 2005 • Albums
Gold Sounds
James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Ali Jackson, Reginald Veal
Pavement is not the most obvious choice for an instrumental-jazz tribute. The '90s-era indie rock outfit is known for many things--its lit-grad lyrics, its slack musicianship, its style (for miles and miles)--but perhaps the least of which is the jazz-worthiness...
December 2005 • Albums
It's Mostly Residual
Cuong Vu
Like Dave Holland and Dave Douglas, two alt-jazz heavies who recently started their own labels, New York-based trumpeter Cuong Vu opts for the D.I.Y. route on his latest disc, It's Mostly Residual. A bold move, perhaps? Well, not exactly: Vu, a musician...
November 2005 • Albums
Suspicious Activity?
The Bad Plus
Ah, the Bad Plus, subject of many a heated debate. Dozens of jazz fans want to know: Is the "controversy" over this New York-based piano trio still simmering? Let's hope not. After all, nearly three years after the Bad Plus' breakthrough and Columbia debut...
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