Mike Shanley
Mike’s Contributions
05/19/12 Albums
Bright Light in Winter
Jeff Parker Trio
On Nicole Mitchell’s excellent 2011 album Awakening , guitarist Jeff Parker’s performance sounded like a collision of Grant Green’s crisp tone and James Blood Ulmer’s vocabulary. But Parker, probably best known as a member of the post-rock band Tortoise...
05/11/12 Albums
Chance Episodes
Dead Cat Bounce
Matt Steckler, founder of and one of four saxophonists in Dead Cat Bounce, says the theme of Chance Episodes explores “memory’s haphazard way of bringing to the fore seemingly unrelated events, so that an episodic narrative is created, as if ‘by chance.’”...
05/09/12 Albums
2 by 2
Anthony Braxton & Buell Neidlinger
Anthony Braxton and Buell Neidlinger could have dug into any number of concepts in a duo performance, considering the saxophonist’s prolific output and the bassist’s far-ranging résumé (Cecil Taylor’s original quartet, Frank Zappa and orchestra gigs) and...
04/29/12 Albums
Live in L.A.
Bobby Bradford/Mark Dresser/Glenn Ferris
The album title is a bit misleading. Bobby Bradford (cornet), Mark Dresser (bass) and Glenn Ferris (trombone) did make this recording in the City of Angels in 2009. But they were performing in trombonist Bruce Fowler’s living room, not in front of an audience...
04/22/12 Albums
Três Cabeças Lourcuras
São Paulo Underground
Rob Mazurek can always be counted on to lead a number of groups, from the large-scale drone and swirl of the Exploding Star Orchestra to the hard-driving trio Starlicker, one of 2011’s most impressive acts. No matter what he plays, Mazurek executes on cornet...
04/13/12 Albums
Elastic Aspects
Matthew Shipp Trio
Matthew Shipp cranks albums out with such regularity that to call him prolific would be something of an understatement. Yet the more recent batch of releases attributed to the pianist (in addition to extracurricular sessions) chronicles a progression in...
04/13/12 Albums
The Guest House
Trio M
The cooperative trio of pianist Myra Melford, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson has become an extremely empathetic union, in which all three musicians mold their approaches to fit each of the tunes. While some of the tracks feel a little too subdued...
04/02/12 Albums
Spacer
Jason Adasiewicz’s
Sun Rooms
Sun Rooms offers a different listening experience than Jason Adasiewicz’s other projects, like his quintet Rolldown, which sonically evokes Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch! As on its 2010 debut, the group has no horn-playing cohorts along for the ride here. The...
03/30/12 Albums
Seriously
Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project
Ralph Carney has always been a sort of wild man with chops. First in the proto-new wave band Tin Huey and later as an ongoing support player with artists like Tom Waits, his saxophone approach fits perfectly in screwball situations. Behind the jokes, though...
01/31/12 Albums
Riptide
Gerry Hemingway Quintet
With one very obvious exception, all the tracks on Riptide flow together without a break, often making it hard to distinguish if a mood shift comes in the middle of a piece or if it cues the next composition. Tense, repetitive licks give way to murky drones...
01/06/12 Albums
September Trio
Harris Eisenstadt
For an album of works composed and directed by the drummer, September Trio doesn’t focus on Harris Eisenstadt. Tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin stands out with his broad tone and flair for microtonal pitch bends, which lends drama to his voice. Pianist Angelica...
12/24/11 Albums
Synastry
Jen Shyu + Mark Dresser
There have been vocal-and-bass albums, but none have sounded like this. Jen Shyu has been heard most prominently as a member of Steve Coleman and Five Elements, where her voice is integrated into the music with the horns. In that setting and this one, Shyu...
12/19/11 Albums
Dogon A.D.
Julius Hemphill
Mike Shanley reviews the reissue of Julius Hemphill's 'Dogon A.D.'
12/16/11 Albums
Live at Town Hall
The Klezmatics
Klezmer music has come a long way in the past quarter century and a group of downtown New York musicians have played a big part in boosting its visibility. Klezmer has been called “Jewish jazz”: It often involves a fast, complex melody line over a steady...
12/09/11 Albums
Oblique – I
Tyshawn Sorey
Mike Shanley reviews drummer Tyshawn Sorey's latest, 'Oblique – I'
11/03/11 Albums
Intents and Purposes
Bill Dixon Orchestra
Mike Shanley reviews a long-out-of-print reissue
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ReportAbout Mike Shanley
Mike Shanley wishes there were more hours in the day to just sit and listen to music, probably with some coffee close at hand. A native of Pittsburgh, he served as arts & entertainment editor at two of that city's alternative newsweeklies, InPittsburgh and Pulp. In addition to JazzTimes, he freelances for Pittsburgh City Paper, Blurt and maintains a blog at www.shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com where he rambles on about whatever has landed on the turntable or disc player at that moment. His writing has appeared in Harp, Pittsburgh Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and on the website PopCity.com. He has also played bass guitar in a number of Pittsburgh indie rock bands over the past two decades.