Brent Burton
Brent’s Contributions
04/19/12 Albums
Frère Jacques—Round About Offenbach
Gianluigi Trovesi/Gianni Coscia
If you can’t quite figure out whether clarinetist Gianluigi Trovesi and accordionist Gianni Coscia’s latest is a jazz or classical release, the subtitle offers a genre-hopping clue: It’s both. Though ostensibly dedicated to 19th-century French composer Jacques...
08/29/11 Albums
Rruga
Colin Vallon Trio
On Colin Vallon’s MySpace page, you can find a picture of the young pianist and his two youthful bandmates, bassist Patrice Moret and drummer Samuel Rohrer, huddled together in laughter. The gesture appears to be unironic and a little bit innocent, the sort...
06/03/11 Albums
Faithful
Marcin Wasilewski Trio
Faithful , the third ECM album from the Marcin Wasilewski Trio—sixth if you count the records featuring trumpeter Tomasz Stanko—takes its name from a plaintive ballad by Ornette Coleman. The bold-faced saxophonist is an unexpected inspiration for this Polish...
05/23/11 Albums
Skala
Mathias Eick
Is Skala a jazz record? The guy who made it, Mathias Eick, is certainly a jazz musician. The Norwegian trumpeter, age 31, improvises all over Vespers , the glacially paced new album from the Iro Haarla Quintet. But on Skala , his second (and most scripted...
March 2011 Albums
Bold as Light
Stephan Micus
Stephan Micus, a 57-year-old German vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, has recorded for ECM, his country’s most prominent jazz label, since the late ’70s. Bold as Light , his 19th effort for the label, is at times reminiscent of trumpeter Don Cherry’s globalized...
November 2010 Albums
Seeing You See
Keefe Jackson Quartet
Keefe Jackson, a saxophonist and clarinetist, seems to fit in well in his adopted hometown of Chicago, Ill. He’s even recorded several albums for that town’s landmark jazz label, Delmark. And Seeing You See , his first for the Portuguese label Clean Feed...
April 2010 Albums
Dark Eyes
Tomasz Stanko Quintet
Tomasz Stanko began his career as an ECM recording artist with 1975’s Balladyna , a post-Ornette outburst that gives little hint of the kind of trumpeter he has become. Taken together, the best of his recent work—2006’s Lontano , 2004’s Suspended Night and...
May 2009 Features
Arve Henriksen: Through European Eyes
The sun had just gone down when Arve Henriksen ducked into a coffee shop. “It’s freezing cold in Oslo now,” the Norwegian trumpeter said, laughing. “It’s quite nice, actually, the winter here.” Accompanying him on this mid-February evening was his girlfriend...
March 2009 Albums
Melos
Vassilis Tsabropoulos/Anja Lechner/U.T. Gandhi
Even if his country were teeming with notable jazz musicians, Greek pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos would be a standout. His 2004 disc The Triangle (with bassist Arild Andersen and drummer John Marshall) is not only an excellent example of the durability of...
January/February 2009 Albums
Pagina de Buenos Aires
Fernando Otero
To call Fernando Otero a tango artist might be accurate, but conveys none of the aggressiveness and freneticism at the heart of his new album, Pagina de Buenos Aires. The opening track, “Chirimbolos,” is a typical study in tension. Otero and his accompanists—violinist...
November 2008 Albums
The Princess Sita
Dominique Di Piazza Trio
There’s a certain rubberiness to Dominique Di Piazza’s debut as a leader, The Princess Sita, that goes beyond the sound of bass. The bandleader’s electric five-string is front and center, but what’s remarkable about this trio effort is that it’s often difficult...
November 2008 Albums
Double Sunrise Over Neptune
William Parker
William Parker opens his latest album, Double Sunrise Over Neptune, with an ascending six-note bassline that’s reminiscent of the melody from John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. The motif, played throughout the 15-minute opener, “Morning Mantra,” might not seem...
September 2008 Albums
Berlin: Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile
Theo Bleckmann/Fumio Yasuda
Lest you miss Theo Bleck-mann and Fumio Yasuda’s attempt to tune in to a bygone era, the vocalist and pianist begin this collection of early-to-mid 20th century German songs with the sound of radio static. The white noise is gone by the end of the second...
August 2008 Albums
Green
Hank Roberts with Marc Ducret and Jim Black
There aren’t many jazz musicians who’re cellists, and there aren’t many cellists like Hank Roberts. On Green, his return from semi-retirement, the Ithaca-based veteran of the Downtown music scene not only does what’s expected—that is, bow linear melodies—he...
August 2008 Albums
17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur
Bill Dixon
Since February, Bill Dixon has released two new albums, Bill Dixon With Exploding Star Orchestra and his latest, 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur. This would be an accomplishment for any musician, but it’s especially impressive coming from this...
May 2008 Albums
Stories Before Within
Jason Kao Hwang/Edge
Composer first, violinist second. That’s how Jason Kao Hwang lists his duties on the back cover of his latest album, Stories Before Within. It’s a hierarchy that says a lot about the music that is played by Hwang’s band Edge. The quartet—which features cornetist...
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