Josef Woodard
Josef’s Contributions
November 2009 • Albums
Think Free
Ben Allison
Josef Woodard looks at how Ben Allison's newest combines pop and jazz sensibilities.
November 2009 • Albums
Double Booked
Robert Glasper
Formidable pianist Robert Glasper joins the ranks of jazz bandleaders and project-makers, alongside Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Stefon Harris and others, who deftly juggle acoustic “mainstream” jazz with more plugged-in and groove-lined sounds. But...
November 2009 • Albums
Emergence
Roy Hargrove
Roy Hargrove thinks big (band) on latest. Critic Josef Woodard approves.
November 2009 • Albums
Esta Plena
Miguel Zenon
Fresh off of garnering his mantelpiece-polishing Guggenheim and MacArthur awards, alto saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón gets back down to the business of making some serious music. No, what we hear on Zenón’s impressive new project isn’t steeped in...
10/18/09 • Concerts
Big-Band Bash at the Hollywood Bowl
Roberta Gambarini shines at all-star L.A. show
10/06/09 • Concerts
Monterey Jazz Festival
Versatile programming (and a surprise Sco-Lo set) at the world’s oldest continuous jazz fest
October 2009 • Albums
Urbanus
Stefon Harris & Blackout
Stefon Harris and his group Blackout keep their jazz muse on while exploring a contemporary groove.
09/25/09 • Concerts
Angel City Jazz Festival
“West Coast jazz” means musical daring at this L.A. fest
09/15/09 • Albums
Live In Europe
Rashied Ali Quintet
The late drummer Rashied Ali was probably best known for his role as a ripe drum foil in the last, exploratory phase of John Coltrane’s career. But the fervent and imaginative drummer’s musical life went in intriguing directions and surfaced in various locales...
August/September 2009 • Albums
Spirit Moves
Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy
Dave Douglas has long shown a dominant innovator’s gene in his varied work, right down to the dizzying diversity of projects he concocts and pursues. Simultaneously, though, Douglas is prone to paying affectionate tribute to influential masters. Both instincts...
April 2009 • Features
Behind the Music: The Jazz Arrangers
Four master arrangers discuss their unheralded role
April 2009 • Albums
Peter Bernstein Trio
Monk
A guitarist rescues the Monk songbook from predictability
April 2009 • Albums
Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records
The Blue Note 7
Venerable old Blue Note Records, one of the last “major” jazz labels standing, has assembled in-house/road-show projects in the past, but this year’s “Blue Note 7” counts for something special. Here we have a versatile and hot aggregation of players, ably...
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ReportAbout Josef Woodard
Josef Woodard has covered jazz for JazzTimes and other magazines since the late 1980s, classical/contemporary music for the Los Angeles Times since 1993, opera for Opera Now, and pop and jazz for Rolling Stone, among countless other associations. At the moment, he is working on a book on Charles Lloyd. Also a guitarist, songwriter, co-owner of the 20-year-old Household Ink Records label (householdink.com) and general “situationist,” Woodard tries to maintain a balance between looking at music from the outside and burrowing into creative machinery.