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Posts Tagged Jazz

Archive

April 19, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

A Few Stray Thoughts on Billie Holiday

The image is of Billie Holiday, with a gardenia in her hair. That image might night tell you that she wanted a husband and children – but it’s the truth. That image might not have ever told you that she could live 100 days in a single night – but that was also, and far […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged A Few Stray Thoughts, A Few Stray Thoughts on, A Few Stray Thoughts on Billie Holiday, Billie Holiday, Blog, Jazz, Music, Stray Thoughts, To follow me in all the right places check out the Linktree right here. And to subscribe to my Substack newsletter “Sounds Good” click here ·

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March 24, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: The Soul of Jazz is Forever Dancing

Jazz docked in America over 300 years ago, shuffling off the boat in chains where it was handed to a new owner who dressed jazz in a suit, let it out at night though mostly to work, yes there was extra time to play but more whip as well. Jazz broke free, though never totally […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Jazz, Short Story, Short Story: The Soul of Jazz is Forever Dancing, The Soul of Jazz is Forever Dancing ·

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February 11, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

Lionel Loueke: Close Your Eyes

Lionel Loueke Close Your Eyes Sounderscore Inc. West African guitarist Lionel Loueke started, as a kid, on percussion instruments. This has informed his approach to what is now his primary instrument – and though he hits at the strings, scrapes and finds new sounds from seemingly unturned corners or secret nooks all across the surface […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Close Your Eyes, Eric Harland, Guitar, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, Jazz, Lionel Loueke, Lionel Loueke: Close Your Eyes, Reuben Rogers, Trio, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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February 10, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

When John Coltrane First Blew My Mind

When my brother returned from university with a John Coltrane CD it was like a special gift. He was out there discovering new worlds, the hunter-gatherer bringing the very best music back to Hawke’s Bay. That’s how it seemed. There was no other way to explain it at all. He was doing this very special […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged A Love Supreme, Blog, Brother, CD, Hawke's Bay, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, Jazz, JC, John Coltrane, John Coltrane Blew My Mind, Saxophone, Stardust, The Stardust Session, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron, When John Coltrane First Blew My Mind ·

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February 5, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

What A Good Score! – #7: The Man With The Golden Arm by Elmer Bernstein

The score for The Man With The Golden Arm, by Elmer Bernstein is one of the great jazz movie scores. Just a great jazz album, period. So if you’re reading this and you haven’t seen the film and you’re not even all that interested in movie soundtracks (although why are you reading this?) it’s safe […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1955, Elmer Bernstein, Film, Frank Sinatra, Good Score, Jazz, Kim Novak, LP, Movie, Otto Preminger, Record, Score, Soundtrack, The Man With The Golden Arm, The Vinyl Countdown # 748, Vinyl, What A Good Score!, What A Good Score! – #7, What A Good Score! – #7: The Man With The Golden Arm by Elmer Bernstein ·

Archive

January 17, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

Orrin Evans: The Magic of Now

Orrin Evans The Magic of Now Smoke Sessions Records Orrin Evans has released a bunch of albums as a leader – mostly of small combos but he’s also collaborated with big bands too, and there was a recent stint as the replacement for Ethan Iverson in The Bad Plus. An adaptable, charismatic pianist, Evans is […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Bill Stewart, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, Immanuel Wilkins, Jazz, Orrin Evans, Orrin Evans: The Magic of Now, Smoke Sessions Records, The Magic of Now, Vicente Archer, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Harold Mabern, Harold Mabern: Mabern Plays Coltrane, Jazz, Joe Farnsworth, John Coltrane, Live, Mabern Plays Coltrane, Piano, posthumous, Smoke Sessions Records, Tribute, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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.
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Jazz, JD Allen, JD Allen: Queen City, Queen City, Savant, Saxophone, Solo, Sonny Rollins, Tenor, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Blue Note, David Virilles, Dezron Douglas, Homeward Bound, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, Immanuel Wilkins, Jazz, Joel Ross, Johnathan Blake, Johnathan Blake: Homeward Bound, Quintet, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Ari Rolland, Duke, Duke Ellington, Guitar, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, Jazz, Keith Balla, Pasquale Grasso, Pasquale Grasso: Pasquale Plays Duke, Pasquale Plays Duke, Sony Music Entertainment, The Duke, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, Jason Moran, Jason Moran: The Sound Will Tell You, Jazz, Piano, Solo, Solo PIano, The Sound Will Tell You, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Addiction, Afternoons, BILLIE, Billie Holiday, Holiday, Jazz, Jesse Mulligan, Karyn Hay, Radio, Radio Feature, Radio NZ, RNZ, RNZ Feature, RNZ Feature: The Music of Billie Holiday, Simon Sweetman, The Music of Billie Holiday, Trauma, Vocals ·
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