Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith makes a fascinating Miles Davis stand-in. A player of a different generation and temperament, Smith embraced free improvisation and modern composition, … Read More “Henry Kaiser/Wadada Leo Smith: Sky Garden”
Born into a family of ex-New York City hippies, violinist Jenny Scheinman grew up playing violin and piano in rural Northern California. After studying at … Read More “Jenny Scheinman: Shalagaster”
Of late, a lot of players have revisited the full-blown electric Miles Davis of the ’70s. Far fewer have burrowed into the music Davis made … Read More “George Schuller: Round Bout Now”
Pianist/home-made instrument player Cooper-Moore is not an easy player to figure out. He’s turned up on records with Bill Cole’s Untempered Ensemble, William Parker and … Read More “Cooper-Moore/Tom Abbs/Chad Taylor: Triptych Myth”
The bland title Conversation is a little evasive, but the cover image, a painting of what appears to be food on a tabletop, gets right … Read More “David Liebman: Conversation”
Italian reedist Daniele D’Agaro has recorded an entire album of little known Don Byas tunes and on his latest recording, Strandjutters, he holds his own … Read More “Daniele D’Agaro/Ernst Glerum/Han Bennink: Strandjutters”
Neo-Modernism’s final track, “Heavily Amplified Hairpiece,” opens with a swiftly moving funk beat soon thickened with slow, long-tone accompaniment from the horns. That bold opening … Read More “Either Orchestra: Neo-Modernism”
A first-rate player on an unusual instrument, Klucevsek has been the accordionist of choice for some time in New York’s experimental circles-but that probably isn’t … Read More “Guy Klucevsek: Tales from the Cryptic”
Bill Frisell prefers to communicate through his guitar rather than his mouth. Lately he’s been speaking in tongues with musicians from around the world. Bill … Read More “Bill Frisell: Nothing to Talk About”
It’s generally a good idea to approach supergroups with a diminished enthusiasm. After all, outsized egos, nonexistent chemistry, careless attitudes, histrionics and throwaway tunes can … Read More “ScoLoHoFo: Oh!”
Reedist Golia first put together the group on Feeding Frenzy, temporarily, in 1997, and only reconvened the band after being pestered by violinist Harry Scorzo. … Read More “Vinny Golia: Feeding Frenzy”
Hilmar Jensson and his bandmates on Tyft have been throwing it down together since their school days. The Icelandic guitarist met drummer Jim Black and … Read More “Hilmar Jensson: Tyft”
There was a time when Bill Frisell’s not-entirely-realized Nashville seemed like a fun side-project, a twangy all-out jump into a countrified American music that had … Read More “Bill Frisell: The Willies”
For Vanishing Point, Ellery Eskelin’s first string-centered project, the tenor saxophonist opted to arrive at the studio without preconceptions, trust his new band and play … Read More “Ellery Eskelin: Vanishing Point”
Anyone interested in where the Panamanian saxophonist Carlos Garnett has been headed in the last few years could jump up to speed pretty quickly with … Read More “Carlos Garnett: Moon Shadow”
Led by the three musicians whose names grace the spine, Conjunction revolves around the musician’s snaky, M-Base-like rhythmic concept. Mike Clark’s kit is the seminal … Read More “Mike Clark/Paul Jackson/Marc Wagnon: Conjunction”
Conceived as a sequel of sorts to Hunger, the disc released in honor of the Kollektief’s 25th anniversary, Thirst! defies conventional logic and opens with … Read More “Willem Breuker Kollektief/Denise Jannah: Thirst”
Drums & Tuba isn’t really a duo at all considering that guitarist Neal McKeeby sits in on every track. Nevertheless, you don’t run across a … Read More “Drums and Tuba: Vinyl Killer”
Cole has collected and learned to play instruments from all over the globe yet finds much of his inspiration-at least on this vibrant live recording, … Read More “Bill Cole Untempered Ensemble: 11/20/99”
Duets and Solos Volume 1 catches Cole just after the Ensemble concert by himself and in duets with musical eclectic Cooper-Moore, bassist William Parker and … Read More “Bill Cole The Untempered Ensemble: Duets & Solos, vol. 1”
Laying low for some time, tenor saxman Malaby split his efforts between sideman gigs (Joey DeFrancesco, the Mingus Big Band, Ed Schuller’s Shulldogs, Marty Ehrlich … Read More “Tony Malaby: Sabino”
Not strictly a single-medium guy, Biskin works in film as well as playing clarinet and fronting his band. The eclecticism that might lead him to … Read More “Andy Biskin Quintet: Dogmental”
