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All About Jazz Feature Articles
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Paul Gillies: More Rhythm than Stephen Hawking
Harmonica player Paul Gillies is an extraordinary individual. He has walked up Mount Vesuvius on crutches, jet power boated in New Zealand, bungee jumped 300 feet over the River Thames, and tandem freefall parachuted from 10,000 feet. These physical feats would have taxed the average person, but Paul did them while experiencing progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a degenerative disease that has robbed him of his sight in one eye, and will eventually claim his life...
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Arve Henriksen with Orchestra at London Jazz Festival 2008
Arve Henriksen London Jazz Festival 2008 Kings Place, London November 14, 2008
Followers of the Norwegian jazz scene in general and of its Punkt Festival had to be awaiting this event with great anticipation. From the start, the sounds promise to match if not exceed expectations. The solo violin piece from Charles Mutter and the improvised duet between trumpeter {{Arve Henriksen = 14746}} and live samplist Jan Bang both have their moments, while John Orford's (intentionally?) hilarious distorted bassoon solo wins almost the biggest cheer of the night. Yet the highlights of this opening night of the London Jazz Festival's Scene Norway program--the ensembles teaming Henriksen, Bang and fellow Norwegian Thomas Stronen (drums and electronics) with UK players including five members of the London Sinfonietta, Mutter and Orford among them--falls short of the anticipated excitement...
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Ned Rothenberg
Twisting alto and tenor saxophone lines gradually coalesced then dispersed, tacking between consonance and dissonance as Ned Rothenberg and Evan Parker launched their recent duo gig at Issue Project Room. Long circular-breathed patterns were punctuated with overblown tones before the two exchanged almost bluesy lines, complementing and responding in a taut dialogue of fluent masters...
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Paul Desmond: Take Ten
This article appears in Chapter 28 of Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond by Doug Ramsey (Parkside Publications, 2005).
When Desmond had time off from the Brubeck group, he was likely to be recording under his own name. Beginning with the first Desmond Blue session, he and {{Jim Hall = 7345}} were in RCA's famous studio A (shades of Toscanini, Horowitz and Heifitz) or studio B nineteen times from 1961 to 1965 for recording sessions that produced five albums. {{Connie Kay = 8281}} was a constant. The immaculate time, lacy cymbal work and firm propulsion of his drumming fulfilled Desmond's vision of Lester Young's little tinky-boom. Bassists rotated through the series--{{Eugene Wright = 11523}} on loan from Brubeck, {{Percy Heath = 7542}} from the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Gene Cherico from {{Stan Getz = 7013}}. In his liner notes, Desmond wrote that Cherico, the least known of the three, was "becoming a thoroughly fantastic bass player." Seventeen of the thirty-four pieces were accomplished in a flurry of sessions from June 5 to June 25, 1963, the other half in July, August and September of 1964...
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Empirical/Alan Barnes/Rob Lavers -- Jazz Weekend In Old York: Eric Dolphy, Benny Goodman, and Wayne Shorter Revisited
Jazz Weekend In Old York The National Centre For Early Music York, England November 21-23, 2008
England's deeply historical city of York is far from being a jazz nexus, but its main alternative music venue does have an ongoing policy of presenting one--off gigs in an atmospheric converted church space. The National Centre For Early Music also runs a specialized Jazz Weekend at least twice each year, usually focusing on significant artists on the UK scene, although rarely venturing across international waters. This small-scale activity can't really compare to the bigger, wider spreads of action in nearby Leeds (or even the coastal resort of Scarborough), but a feeling pervades that there isn't much of an audience for jazz in York, at least judging by the scarcity of gigs within its walls. A weekly jazz column in the local newspaper, The Press, always seems to be struggling to find events to fill its space, and is usually forced to look further afield, to smaller towns with slightly bigger scenes, whether traditional or post-bebop in nature...
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C. Michael Bailey's Best Releases of 2008
The event horizon for jazz is set at infinity. There is no shortage of finely crafted music being performed within this uniquely American and pragmatically international genre. This year is about baker's dozens. No, make that Bailey's dozens.
Presented here are links to 14 reviews of what I considered the best recordings released between December 2007 and December 2008. Allowing that no writer can listen to or write about the bulk of the music released, 14 more reviews have been added, written by colleagues at All About Jazz, of discs the column was unable to review or that were reviewed more tellingly by other writers...
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Of Music and Brilliance, the Vision of Evan Parker
This interview first appeared in Lloyd Peterson's Music And The Creative Spirit (Scarecrow Press, 2006)
It may be almost impossible to be involved in free improvisational forms and not be influenced by the compositional genius of Evan Parker. As a saxophonist, he has created one of the most original voices in the history of the instrument and after several decades, remains one of music's most important pioneers...
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Holiday Gift Guide 2008
The holidays are a special time around the Geniusdome. Luca Brasi, my trusted associate and parakeet, goes all out decorating his cage (featured in this month's Perch Pride magazine). My usual stacks of death threats and hate mail start arriving in festive green and red envelopes. And the ghost of Elvis starts singing actual Christmas songs, instead of just making up dirty lyrics to that "Viva Viagra" commercial and eating all the damned peanut butter...
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London Jazz Festival 2008
London Jazz Festival 2008 London, England Nov. 14-23, 2008
{{Ken Vandermark = 11015}}, {{Barry Guy = 7303}}, {{Mark Sanders = 12689}} The Vortex November 14
In a meticulously unplanned concert, the music often seemed like a sonic battle between these three renowned improvisers. Sporting a black-fitted tee and a hairstyle that could be straight from the Police Academy films, Vandermark was the dominant voice. On tenor saxophone and occasionally clarinet, his signature wailing, guttural, distorted screams interchanged with lithely melodic phrases and deft percussive passages. Sanders and Guy were largely in the background, providing a constant stream of ideas and demonstrating why they are so highly regarded amongst the European avant garde. Guy in particular employed a number of extended techniques, utilizing all parts of his five-string double bass and performing on-the-job customizations such as jamming a drumstick under the strings, or using a soft-headed beater to produce gentle ripples of sound during quieter movements. Certainly a spectacular opening for the promising festival program, it would be hard for any subsequent performance to surpass the sheer creative intensity on display this Friday night...
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Mark Whitfield: Quick Whit
Panther [Pan-ther]
College Dictionary: noun - Four-legged feline, usually found in largely forested areas.
Sports Dictionary: proper noun - Two-legged player, usually found in the Carolina areas.
Whitfield Dictionary: 1. Collective noun - Group of players (namely Mark Whitfield, Cy Smith, Byron Moore, Jason Murden, Donald Edwards and Antoine Drye), usually found in jazzy areas. 2. State of being - The experience of being independent...
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 Thursday, 04 December 2008
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