Posts Tagged Jazz
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January 13, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Harold Mabern: Mabern Plays Coltrane
Harold Mabern Mabern Plays Coltrane Smoke Sessions Records The great post-bop pianist Harold Mabern died, aged 83, in 2019. His final recordings continue to arrive – Leon Lee Dorsey released Mabern’s last ever studio session just last year and here we have a live date from around 2017, released just now brand new. And if […]Archive
January 8, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
JD Allen: Queen City
JD Allen Queen City Savant JD Allen is one hell of a tenor saxophonist, with over a dozen recordings as a leader and plenty of guest spots too – working with the likes of Cindy Blackman, Orrin Evans and Lisa Hilton (among others). But Queen City is his first solo saxophone albums.Archive
January 7, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Johnathan Blake: Homeward Bound
Johnathan Blake Homeward Bound Blue Note Johnathan Blake has been an in-demand drummer across the last two decades working with a great range of jazz legends (Pharoah Sanders, Dr. Lonnie Smith) and the newer wave (Avishai Cohen, Ravi Coltrane, Chris Potter). Homeward Bound marks his fourth album as a leader but debut for Blue Note […]Archive
January 5, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Pasquale Grasso: Pasquale Plays Duke
Pasquale Grasso Pasquale Plays Duke Sony Music Entertainment Pasquale Grasso – a phenomenon, all Jim Hall taste and Pat Metheny technique and yet his talent seemingly goes beyond both, already – returns to capitalise on his exquisite set of solo ballads. A record I loved so much. Here he focuses on Duke Ellington and the […]Archive
January 3, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Jason Moran: The Sound Will Tell You
Jason Moran The Sound Will Tell You (Independent / Bandcamp) For his third solo piano album, Jason Moran – so brilliant across small combos, duos, all sorts of musical pairings that stretch jazz to its limits – took influence from all of the Toni Morrison he’d been reading, the Thelonious Monk he’s forever in debt […]Archive
December 25, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
RNZ Feature: The Music of Billie Holiday
About once a month or so I have a long chat on RNZ about a particular musical artist or genre or a theme – for their regular Tuesday music features. For my final time at the wheel this year I chose to talk about Billie Holiday. She’s never far from my mind, that voice. And the […]Archive
December 23, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Bill Charlap Trio: Street of Dreams
Bill Charlap Trio Street of Dreams Blue Note The jazz piano trio is a thing of beauty – a real test of interplay and musicianship, and of course the mercurial time-stretch between all of this; players working their own magic as a way to channel a collective good – a communal sound that feels as […]Archive
December 10, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Willie Jones III: Fallen Heroes
Willie Jones III Fallen Heroes Wj3 Records These are tough times. The pandemic, sure. But the march of time has a cruel way of reminding us of our mortality – usually through the passing of others. That march of time now warped somewhat too with Covid’s variants nestling into our collective psyche if not our […]Archive
December 7, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Ever Since Charlie Watts Died I’ve Been Tryin’ To Play Along To Art Pepper’s Walkin’ Blues
The image is of my grandfather walking into our kitchen, dancing – a little soft-shoe, a quick finger-click, he already knew the music – yes, he was In The Mood. That’s how he arrived that Christmas. My first drumkit. I think about that – now and then, and at the moment it’s on my mind […]Archive
December 5, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Joe Farnsworth: City of Sounds
Joe Farnsworth City of Sounds Smoke Sessions Records Joe Farnsworth is a tasteful presence behind the kit, never overpowering, always empathic – so if you love trio jazz but worry slightly at the sight of drumsticks on the cover, fear not. Farnsworth leads his now regular trio – Kenny Barron on piano and Peter Washington […]Archive
November 20, 2021 by Simon Sweetman