Britt Robson

Britt Robson’s Contributions

05/03/13 Albums

Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet
In a World of Mallets

In a World of Mallets highlights the growth of Jason Marsalis as a full-fledged vibraphonist. Sure, he worked on the instrument for years before releasing his first vibes album, Music Update , in 2009, but he hedged his bets with a handful of overdubbed...

04/29/13 Albums

Elvin
Chico Freeman

Saxophonist Chico Freeman credits the innovative drummer Elvin Jones for taking him on his initial tours of Europe and the major jazz clubs of the U.S., and for procuring and appearing on his first recording as a leader, Beyond the Rain , in 1978. It’s a...

04/05/13 Albums

Now Is
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten New York Quartet

An almost inevitable part of the process of collective improvisation is that period of motif-hatching uncertainty when the musicians are trying to sort out when they are trailblazing and when they are acknowledging common ground. Some free-jazz buffs want...

04/03/13 Albums

Songs From This Season
Tim Green

Tim Green is a devout man, planful composer and adept alto saxophonist with noteworthy musical friends. These attributes comprise the raw materials for Songs From This Season , a debut of varied flavors yet consistent quality. Biblical scripture inspires...

03/31/13 Albums

Gamak
Rudresh Mahanthappa

Is there a better rivalry in jazz today than the friendly competition between Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa? For many years they performed as a duo at European festivals, regularly appeared on each other’s records, and were frequently linked and referenced...

03/21/13 Albums

Move
Hiromi

For better and for worse, Hiromi plays like a prodigy, coloring the listener’s first and second impressions in neon with her dazzling technique. Dense arpeggios circle with a gale force, yet the pianist’s crisp intonation never turns them to porridge. Dynamic...

03/16/13 Albums

Special Edition
Jack DeJohnette

It’s easy to lose your bearings in the career of Jack DeJohnette. He has seemingly played everywhere with everyone—from the AACM, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and Miles Davis to Bruce Hornsby, Wadada Leo Smith, Bill Frisell and Esperanza Spalding. None of those...

03/14/13 Albums

Family Life
Bill Carrothers

Early in his career, Bill Carrothers earned a decent living playing quality music in the jazz mecca of New York City for five years, but didn’t like the life he was building for himself and his family and decamped for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. That...

02/28/13 Albums

The New Classic Trio
David Hazeltine

David Hazeltine is a consummate pro, meaning he plays with consistency, integrity and a creative faith in the wellspring of the mainstream. Fifteen years ago, the pianist put out the first of what would become three Classic Trio records featuring bassist...

02/24/13 Albums

Spun Tree
Michaël Attias

Michaël Attias is a saxophonist and composer who has worked with Anthony Braxton, which perhaps accounts for the allusive quality and segmented, Euro-classical tinge on what are still clearly jazz songs. Spun Tree is the debut of his quintet by the same...

02/12/13 Albums

Respect Vol. 1
Roy Assaf

The “respect” of the title refers to Roy Assaf’s forebears on jazz piano; he honors 10 of them, in chronological order, from Count Basie to Danilo Pérez, before closing out with a pair of originals. His song choices are unconventional—sometimes to a fault...

02/10/13 Albums

Live in Paris
Ted Curson

There is a solid list of reasons why Live in Paris is a valuable keepsake. It’s the last non-posthumous release from trumpeter Ted Curson, who passed in November from heart failure at the age of 77. It features the music of Charles Mingus, Curson’s best...

02/07/13 Albums

The Gathering
Clayton Brothers and Friends

Foremost among their many attributes, the Clayton Brothers are the snazzy stewards of a timeless brand of funky hard bop that won’t go out of style so long as any of us have a hedonistic bone in our bodies. While they’ve set an unremittingly high standard...

02/05/13 Albums

Wires & Moss
Angelica Sanchez Quintet

Blending through-composition and group improvisation is an increasingly common but still stubbornly tricky enterprise, like managing the aesthetics of a kite in flight. The composer labors to concoct this skeletal contraption, starts running with it, then...

02/04/13 Albums

Long Way
Albare iTD

The Australian guitarist Albert Dadon (a.k.a. Albare) has assembled a top-notch band for this project, including Antonio Sanchez (drums), George Garzone (tenor sax) and Leo Genovese (piano). Unfortunately, the stylistic mesh doesn’t maximize their formidable...

01/24/13 Albums

Mr. Lucky: A Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr.
Harold Mabern

Brisk, buoyant and gimmick-free, this straightahead quartet date is as unpretentiously satisfying as that first swig of cold beer after a hard day’s work. In the liner notes to Mr. Lucky , pianist Harold Mabern proclaims Sammy Davis Jr. to be “the greatest...