Michael J. West
Michael J.’s Contributions
December 2009 • Albums
Songs From the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey
Ramsey Lewis
Songs From the Heart is, in a word, astonishing. It finds Ramsey Lewis, after 50 years playing R&B- and pop-laced jazz piano, reinventing himself as a composer—hence the subtitle, Ramsey Plays Ramsey. The trio disc (Larry Gray, bass; Leon Joyce, drums) contains...
May 2009 • Artist Profiles
Ray LeVier: Against All Odds
Drummer Ray LeVier has chops. His Web page includes video of a drum clinic near his home in New York’s Hudson Valley that places his virtuosity beyond question, as do his heavy beats behind singer-songwriter KJ Denhert. But on his postbop-oriented leader...
May 2009 • Albums
Looks Like It’s Going to Snow
The October Trio + Brad Turner
Why was there ever any fuss about pianoless quartets? The October Trio (tenor saxophonist Evan Arntzen, bassist Josh Cole and drummer Dan Gaucher) and their trumpet-playing cohort Brad Turner play full arrangements and rich harmonies just fine without keys...
April 2009 • Albums
Human Activity Suite
Brad Shepik
Guitarist Brad Shepik has studied a broad range of world musics; Human Activity Suite is the payoff. But what is ostensibly a response to global warming has more in common with Ellington’s travelogue suites than Mingus or Roach’s socially conscious works...
March 2009 • Albums
For All I Care
The Bad Plus
It was inevitable, perhaps, that The Bad Plus would make an all-covers album. Each member of the celebrated Midwestern trio (pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, drummer David King) is an accomplished composer, delivering quirky pieces with new...
March 2009 • Albums
The Other Three
Brad Dutz
With The Other Three, free percussionist Brad Dutz reaches for a gauntlet Shelly Manne threw down on 1954’s The Three: It’s a trio album with one horn player (John Fumo on trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn), one reedist (Kim Richmond on alto sax and clarinet...
March 2009 • Albums
The Source in Between
Elio Villafranca Quartet
On The Source in Between pianist Elio Villafranca attempts to fuse venturesome postbop and classic Latin jazz. Its real ambition, however, is rhythmic, which is why, in addition to drummer Dafnis Prieto—part of the core quartet along with saxophonist Eric...
December 2008 • Artist Profiles
Mary Halvorson: Fractured Guitar
Mary Halvorson’s music is best described as “slightly off.” Indeed, that’s how she herself describes it: “I would say about my compositional style, and I think it’s true for my guitar playing as well, that I like to have things that are slightly off. Chords...
December 2008 • Albums
Rambling Boy
Charlie Haden Family & Friends
It’s no surprise that bassist Charlie Haden would make an album of the old-time country music he grew up on; the surprise is that it took so long. Rambling Boy brings aboard Haden’s wife, children, screwball actor/son-in-law Jack Black and pop and country...
November 2008 • Artist Profiles
Tim Warfield: York State of Mind
York, Pennsylvania, isn’t most people’s idea of Jazz Central, but for saxophonist Tim Warfield it’s exactly that. “It’s a very healthy place to maintain a jazz career,” says the 43-year-old York native and resident. “I’m one hour from Baltimore; 90 minutes...
November 2008 • Albums
Where Is There
Myriam Alter
Belgian composer Myriam Alter straddles three musical pathways on Where Is There: jazz, chamber classical and European folk. Jazz remains the stronghold, but the other styles create exoticism and delicate, lyrical beauty that lingers in the ear long after...
November 2008 • Albums
Afropeans
Jazz Warriors
Afropeans is one of 2008’s most exciting releases. The second album by the Jazz Warriors (London saxophonist Courtney Pine’s 15-piece band) juxtaposes Pine’s trademark genre-blending with the immediacy of live performance. It relies heavily on rhythms and...
October 2008 • Albums
Impressions
Claudio Roditi
Claudio Roditi is better than Impressions would indicate. The Brazilian trumpeter’s tribute to John Coltrane (who either wrote or famously performed seven of the 10 tunes) is a textbook example of mediocrity: perfectly pleasant, serviceable, bossa-seasoned...
September 2008 • Albums
Layers of Chance
Dapp Theory
Layers of Chance, a mélange of progressive and smooth-jazz, funk, hip-hop, electronica and avant-garde, will surely seem valueless to those who like music with a pedigree. That’s a tragedy: It’s a great record. Dapp Theory is simply too hip for its own good...
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ReportAbout Michael J. West
Michael J. West has loved jazz since he was a teenager in North Carolina, but it wasn't until moving to the big city--Washington, D.C.--after college that he became a devoted fanatic. In addition to JazzTimes, he covers jazz for the Washington City Paper, and contributes to The Onion (D.C. Edition), the Village Voice, and Jazz.com. His work has also appeared in the Monterey County Weekly and the East Bay Express. West lives in D.C., near the "jazz district" of U Street, with his wife and two cats--one of whom is named for Thelonious Monk.
Michael J. West joined the JazzTimes community on Jun 13, 2008