Steve Greenlee
Steve’s Contributions
09/02/11 Albums
Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast
David Rothenberg and Lewis Porter
A tour through Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast makes the listener wonder whether David Rothenberg (clarinet, bass clarinet and electronics) and Lewis Porter (piano and keyboard) challenged themselves to play in as many different styles as they could over...
08/23/11 Albums
Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz
Daniel Smith
Give Daniel Smith points for persistence. He doesn’t give up easily. His mission to convince us that the bassoon is a bona fide instrument of jazz has gone on for four albums now. There was The Swingin’ Bassoon , Bebop Bassoon , Blue Bassoon and now, inevitably...
08/22/11 Albums
Double Demon
Starlicker
What mischief can be made with just cornet, vibraphone and drums. Rob Mazurek has scaled back considerably since Stars Have Shapes , the 2010 record from his Exploding Star Orchestra. His new project, the curiously named Starlicker, is a mere trio, with...
08/11/11 Albums
Operation Long Leash
The Dead Kenny Gs
Never before has a jazz combo’s name so perfectly conveyed its ethos. The Dead Kenny Gs manages to both reference an iconoclastic hardcore punk band and express disdain for pandering-to-the-masses smooth jazz while keeping a sense of humor about it all...
08/10/11 Albums
The Mancy of Sound
Steve Coleman and Five Elements
The Mancy of Sound is the second recording from the new edition of alto saxophonist Steve Coleman’s Five Elements, an octet that features trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, trombonist Tim Albright, vocalist Jen Shyu, bassist Thomas Morgan, drummers Tyshawn Sorey...
08/06/11 Albums
Larry Coryell With the Wide Hive Players
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell isn’t out to impress anyone with intricate compositions, serpentine solos or transcendent group synergy on his recent album Larry Coryell With the Wide Hive Players . He’s just there to have a good time, he’s there to party—that much can be...
07/27/11 Albums
The Grand Illusion
Eric Person
Saxophonist Eric Person takes a detour from his usual stylistic terrain for his eighth album. Person, known for working in a more conventional postbop style, blends funk, rock and R&B into a vibrant modern stew over the course of these nine robust tunes...
07/24/11 Albums
Avenging Angel
Craig Taborn
He’s served with distinction as a sideman for the likes of James Carter, Chris Potter and David Torn. He’s been in demand for his skills on grand piano, Fender Rhodes, even organ. In 2004 he issued an album under his own name that stands as a defining document...
05/28/11 Albums
Electric Fruit
Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans
My, what an odd band. Weasel Walter was the drummer and ringleader of the Flying Luttenbachers, a group dedicated to finding common ground between free improvisation, art music and the most extreme strains of punk and hard rock. Mary Halvorson is an avant...
05/22/11 Albums
United Front: Brass Ecstasy Live at Newport
Dave Douglas
Brass Ecstasy’s set was one of the highlights of the 2010 Newport Jazz Festival. Dave Douglas’ group—which featured Luis Bonilla on trombone, Vincent Chancey on French horn, Marcus Rojas on tuba and Nasheet Waits on drums—performed half a dozen tunes that...
May 2011 Albums
Asiento
Animation
Bob Belden can’t seem to get away from Bitches Brew . He was the man behind 1998’s four-disc box The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions , as well as the 2008 two-disc set Miles From India , which gathered together Indian players and Davis alumni to transform...
May 2011 Albums
Bring Your Own
Led Bib
Jazz and punk rock got in a fight, made up, got married and had an offspring named Led Bib. Mark Holub (drums), Liran Donin (electric and upright bass), Toby McLaren (Fender Rhodes electric piano), Pete Grogan (alto sax) and Chris Williams (alto sax) don’t...
May 2011 Albums
The Coimbra Concert
Mostly Other People Do the Killing
The Coimbra Concert , a two-disc set from the zany punk-jazz band Mostly Other People Do the Killing, is jazz’s answer to those mash-up mixtapes created by artists like Girl Talk and DJ Car Stereo (Wars). Think of it as attention-deficit jazz, in the mold...
May 2011 Albums
Leaps of Faith
Cuong Vu 4-Tet
When not collaborating with top-ranking improvisers like Pat Metheny and Myra Melford, trumpeter Cuong Vu has spent the past 10 years making ethereal, languorous, cinematic music of his own writing. Standards? Not his thing. Not until now, anyway. At first...
March 2011 Albums
Friday the 13th: The Micros Play Monk
The Microscopic Septet
The Microscopic Septet has been around for 30 years, but until recently the band—though influenced by Thelonious Monk from its earliest days—had recorded a grand total of one Monk tune. Now comes Friday the 13th: The Micros Play Monk , an album of 12 Monk...
November 2010 Albums
Live at the Triple Door
Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet
Anyone who doesn’t enjoy Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet probably lacks a pulse. The music has everything going for it: It’s got a serious groove, yet it’s much more sophisticated than your average jam band. Solos extend but they don’t meander. And they...
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ReportAbout Steve Greenlee
Steve Greenlee is an editor and jazz writer with The Boston Globe. He grew up listening to Smiths, the Cure and Depeche Mode but eventually found religion in "Kind of Blue" and "Bitches Brew." He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and three children, annoying them with obscure recordings by Sun Ra and Last Exit. He plays keys in The Barn Goats groove-jazz quartet and also runs really fast.