Drum Beat
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
Live at Glenn Miller Café
Ayler Records
It is no small coincidence that this explosive tenor sax and drums duet project was released on Ayler Records. Throughout this riveting live performance, recorded in late 2002 at the Glenn Miller Café in Stockholm, saxophonist Tsahar unleashes with the abandon...
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
In the Context of
482 Music
A mainstay on Chicago’s improvised-music scene, Reed reveals a set of extremely big ears in this collection of freewheeling duets with fellow musical provocateurs from the Windy City. Reed—a kind of Chicago counterpart to New York’s Susie Ibarra—reacts immediately...
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
Judgement Day, Vol. 1 & 2
Survival
For the past 20 years Rashied Ali has been operating like an Art Blakey figure in terms of discovering and nurturing new talent. His current working quintet is another cross-generational affair featuring veterans Greg Murphy (piano) and Joris Teepe (bass...
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
Live! At Slug's, N.Y.C.
Empire Music Group
Recorded in August 1968 at Slug’s, the notorious East Village nightclub where Lee Morgan met his violent end, this reissue features a Jazz Messengers lineup that never made a studio record. With Blakey pushing the band and setting the dynamic with his typically...
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
Marsalis Music Honors Michael Carvin
Marsalis Music
A one-time sideman to the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hutcherson and Jackie McLean, Carvin has also been a revered drum teacher over the past 30 years who helped shape the conceptions of such renowned drummers as Cindy Blackman, Ralph...
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
Avenue Des Diables Blues
Dreyfus Records
For his first session as a leader, the in-demand French drummer and longtime sideman to singer Dee Dee Bridgewater joins with two absolute killers in Gypsy guitarist Biréli Lagrène and reigning Hammond B3 champion Joey DeFrancesco for a program of swinging...
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
Marsalis Music Honors Jimmy Cobb
Marsalis Music
You can count on one hand the total number of albums that the great drummer has made as a leader. Acknowledging that oversight, Branford Marsalis has crafted here a fitting showcase for the man who replaced Philly Joe Jones in the Miles Davis sextet (1958–1963...
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
Samba Jazz in Black & White
Zoho
The great Brazilian drummer (one-third of Trio da Paz) unites with fellow countrymen Helio Alves (piano), Guilherme Monteiro (guitar) and Leonardo Cioglia (bass) along with a talented new saxophonist from Israel, Anat Cohen, for a lively program of jazz...
May 2006 By Bill Milkowski
The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers
Golden Beams
DeJohnette and Frisell approached this rare duo gig at the 2001 edition of Seattle’s Earshot Festival with few expectations and no roadmaps. And the results are often magical. The title track is a perfect example of how this collaboration works. With DeJohnette...
November 2005 By Bill Milkowski
Believe
Cryptogramophone
For Believe the endlessly creative, egoless drummer Scott Amendola assembled a band of underground all-stars in violinist Jenny Scheinman, bassist John Shifflett and two of the most strikingly original six-stringers on the guitar scene: Los Angeleno Nels...
