Multiple Reviews
Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett and Azimuth light up ECM Luminessence reissues
by Chris May
The spring 2024 iteration of ECM's audiophile vinyl reissue series, Luminessence, presents another trio of landmark albums: Jan Garbarek Quartet's Afric Pepperbird, from 1971, Keith Jarrett and Garbarek's Luminessence, from 1975, and Azimuth's Azimuth, from 1977. The combined scope of the music on the three discs (which come with new liner notes) is prairie wide, and chronologically proceeds from howling at the moon to walking in healing moonlight. Jan Garbarek Quartet Afric Pepperbird (1971) ...
read moreOJC Bop and Beyond: The Cats and Yusef Lateef
by C. Andrew Hovan
As Craft Recordings continue to mine their vast collection of recordings, their new take on the decades old Original Jazz Classics imprimatur continues to offer up inspired selections worthy of wider recognition. What also sets these reissues apart is superb quality control, with remastering done by Kevin Gray and pristine pressings that in many cases offer the last word in sonic brilliance. Tommy Flanagan The Cats Craft Recordings 1959 Although it was actually ...
read moreIvo Perelman's Two Stimulating Albums from January of 2024: Interaction and Truth Seeker
by Hrayr Attarian
Innovative Brazilian saxophonist and master improviser Ivo Perelman is as prolific as he is imaginative. With close to 100 recordings under his belt Perelman is always pushing the proverbial envelope looking for fresh ways to express himself. Having lived in various cities around the world--and currently splitting his time between Fortaleza Brazil and New York City--Perelman has been exposed to multiple cultures. The influences of these are heard in his various works. A pair of releases from 2024, each with ...
read moreAmerican Composers On Another Timbre
by John Eyles
When the batch of four Another Timbre releases came out in February 2024, one aspect was particularly noticeable; of the four, two albums featured composers who were born in the U.S.A. and still reside there, Nomi Epstein and Paul Paccione. Although the label honored deceased American composers John Cage and Morton Feldman with highly-praised box sets, it has not paid as much attention to living American composers as it has to Canadian or European composers. In 2017-18 the label issued ...
read moreOJC's Big Guns: Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, and Ron Carter
by C. Andrew Hovan
Although they were somewhat late to the vinyl renaissance game, Craft Records has made up for lost time by tapping a wide range of music. From the Latin strains of Fania Records to the so-called acid jazz that B3 organ masters churned out for Prestige Records in the late '60s, Craft boasts a huge vault that should serve them well for decades to come. As they continue to keep the titles in the rejuvenated OJC series coming, three more inspired ...
read moreThe Jazz Detective Strikes Again
by Mark Corroto
Producer Zev Feldman, like Joe DiMaggio, has done it again. In May of 1941, DiMaggio began a major league baseball hitting streak. People followed his exploits game after game and hit after hit. DiMaggio's amazing record of 56 consecutive games still stands to this day. Same can be said of Feldman. His detective work, finding rare archival jazz recordings (mostly concert dates) in dusty archives, continues a streak that includes music from Bill Evans, Wes Montgomery, Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy, ...
read moreWanted: For Being Hip—Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe and the Birth of Salsa
by Richard J Salvucci
It may require some effort to imagine that there were once no Latin Grammy awards. The albums reviewed here truly appeared in a different world. Until 1970, there was, with one brief exception, no systematic attempt to compute the size of the Latino population of the United States. The first effort did not go well. The Bureau of the Census ultimately invented the term “Hispanic," to aggregate people of different nationalities and ethnicities, although calling, for example, someone from Ecuador ...
read moreMike Clark: Humble As He Goes
by Doug Collette
Drummer/composer/bandleader Mike Clark's resume is as diverse as his talent and, in turn, his discography. The man who dramatically raised his public profile by sitting at the kit for Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters has gone on to record in a wide variety of settings, with a panoply of people, including guitarist extraordinaire Charlie Hunter, British fusioneers Brand X plus once and future member of the Meters, George Porter Jr. Somewhat contrary to Clark's restless, eclectic spirit, both of these ...
read moreThe Worlds of Ignaz Schick
by Mark Corroto
It may be a bit of hyperbole to call Ignaz Schick a Renaissance man. If, though, we take architect Leon Battista Alberti's (1404-72) definition “a man can do all things if he will," then labeling Schick with that epithet is not such a stretch. The German composer, musician, turntablist, visual artist, label chief, and inventor has an unconventional and curious innovative mind. Since a young age, he eschewed pop music and was fascinated by the avant-garde. His early contact with ...
read moreExotic Ivories: Hard Bop Piano and World Beat Rhythms
by AAJ Staff
This article was first published at All About Jazz in January 2002. Jazz piano and world music rhythm make an enchanting pair. With the popularization of world beat music, jazz musicians nurtured on straight-ahead precepts have incorporated instruments and musical concepts from other cultures into their art. Some, like saxophonist Sam Newsome on last year's release Global Unity, have exited traditional jazz entirely, adopting these international grooves wholesale. Others--clarinetist Don Byron, for instance, on his recent Your Are ...
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