DISCOVERY
This Cinema Files/Winter 2020 Collection is an assemblage of the latest releases in the world of traditional and contemporary jazz, with a few noteworthy movie themes in the mix.
On the cusp of 80, Chick Corea remains a master of communication — with audiences and, of course, with his piano. On the live double-album Plays (Concord Jazz), Corea briefly discusses the music he’s about to share before diving into the songbooks of Mozart, Gershwin, Bill Evans, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Thelonious Monk, alone at...
By 1967, Sonny Rollins was no stranger to European audiences. The saxophonist had been a frequent presence on the continent for about a decade when he traveled to the Netherlands and performed with the Dutch rhythm team of bassist Ruud Jacobs and drummer Han Bennink. Live and studio performances from that mini-tour, some unheard since...
In an oft-quoted aphorism about adaptability, martial arts master Bruce Lee touted the mutability of good old H2O. “You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup,” he explained. “You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or...
Following in the footsteps of Lambert, Hendrix and Ross and The Manhattan Transfer, The Royal Bopsters display a dazzling mastery of vocalese, a jazz idiom in which singers fit lyrics to instrumental jazz solos. The group’s latest recording, Party of Four (Motéma), also marks a sad milestone with the passing of alto vocalist Holli Ross...
For two and a half decades, trombonist Conrad Herwig has been putting an Afro-Latin spin on straightahead jazz with his “Latin Side of” recordings. For his latest project, The Latin Side of Horace Silver (Savant), Herwig dives into the songbook of the “Hardbop Grandpop,” whose grounding in the folk music of Cape Verde makes him...
With Hero Trio (Whirlwind), saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa honors his influences and inspirations by offering updates of their classic works. As he notes in the liners, after 15 albums of original music, he was more than ready to re-examine the music that set him on his path. Of course, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane are represented,...
On their previous albums, John Beasley’s MONK’estra offered imaginative takes on music from Thelonious Monk’s enduring songbook. For their third release, M’ONKestra Plays John Beasley (Mack Avenue), the band certainly evokes its namesake —they interpret a quartet of Monk classics — while also adding compositions by its piano-playing leader, who penned eight of the 14...
Early in the 20th century, Hungarian composer Béla Bartok began his investigations into the Romanian folk music of Transylvania. Traveling through the countryside, he made field recordings documenting the region’s indigenous music, eventually amassing more than 3,000 songs comprising six catalogues, which certainly had an imprint on his own work. One hundred years later, Lucian...
For 20 years, Liberty Ellman’s tart, taut guitar lines have provided an essential color to Henry Threadgill’s Zooid ensemble. So perhaps it’s inevitable that his latest solo recording, Last Desert (Pi), would bear some sonic echoes of his work with Threadgill, particularly in that Zooid bandmate Jose Davila joins him once again on tuba. Also...
The trio setting has proven a particularly fertile one for tenor saxophonist JD Allen. His latest trio, with bassist Ian Kenselaar and drummer Nic Cacioppo, is a powerful iteration, as heard on 2019’s Barracoon and its followup, this year’s Toys/Die Dreaming (Savant). Allen remains a compelling voice on his instrument, recalling the examples of John...
South Florida jazz fans of a certain age have fond recollections of Bubba’s, a Fort Lauderdale nightspot that attracted jazz giants such as Ahmad Jamal, Sonny Stitt and Carmen McRae. Pianist Monty Alexander, who had moved to Miami from his native Kingston, Jamaica, as a teenager, was already an international star when he played the...
Before becoming a Hollywood producer, Richard Baratta was a serious jazz drummer on the New York City scene of the 1970s and ’80s. Seeking a change, he moved out west and worked his way up the ladder in the film industry, eventually producing hit films such as Joker and The Irishman. But the music still...
Reed master Eddie Daniels follows his 2018 tribute to Egberto Gismonti with an album dedicated to the music of another compositional genius — Ivan Lins. Having started out as a tenor saxophonist, Daniels is widely celebrated for his clarinet playing; for Night Kisses: A Tribute to Ivan Lins (Resonance), he also adds flute to his...
On his latest release, O Sole Mio! Music From the Motherland (Cellar Live/Reel to Real), alto saxophonist Cory Weeds celebrates the music of Italy, putting a jazz spin on some of the country’s best-loved songs, as well as favorites by Italian-American artists. Accompanied by organist Mike LeDonne’s established quintet — tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, guitarist...
Saxophonist Jim Snidero finds inspiration in Korean culture and philosophy on his latest album, Project-K (Savant). Having been married to a Korean woman for more than 20 years, it’s natural that the California-born Snidero might be influenced by the ancient civilization. After recently visiting his in-laws in Seoul, he completed writing the song cycle that...
Tribute albums needn’t be a collection of the honoree’s greatest hits. For example, trombonist Michael Dease decided to honor the legacy of Charlie Parker by interpreting songs by Bird’s disciples and devotees on his latest album, Never More Here (Posi-Tone). Along with the quintet that accompanied him on his 2017 release All These Hands, Dease...
A longtime devotee and collaborator of Lee Konitz, saxophonist Ohad Talmor conceived of a project to spotlight the legendary altoist’s improvisational genius. The idea was to have Konitz play tunes he loved but, for the most part, had not previously recorded, utilizing his thoughts and feelings about the songs rather than written music. Talmor wrote...
Jazz and hip-hop have influenced one another for decades, with increasingly less resistance from either side of the equation in recent years. Among those for whom both genres are lingua franca, drummer and vocalist Kassa Overall has emerged as a singular presence. Having played drums with Geri Allen’s group for seven years, his jazz bona...
A decade ago, producer Jason Miles released Grover Live, a 1997 concert recording of the late Grover Washington Jr. captured at The Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill, New York. Now that recording is receiving the deluxe reissue treatment, as Lightyear Entertainment releases a two-LP, gold-colored-vinyl set. Recorded two years prior to his passing,...
With stars in her eyes, London-born vocalist Zoe Scott relocated to Rome at age 18, pursuing fame as an actress and singer-songwriter. She later moved to Los Angeles, where she established herself on the rock scene. Realizing that rock was limiting her artistic scope, Scott began to explore other genres. And when she heard Antonio...
A quintessential hardbop sideman, saxophonist George Coleman didn’t release his first studio album as a leader until 1977, when he was in his early 40s. However, he had helmed his own bands before then, having learned the rudiments from colleagues such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, with all of whom...
The culmination of a long friendship between saxophonists Cory Weeds and Ian Hendrickson-Smith, The Lowdown (Cellar Live/Reel to Real) captures the pair at the center of a cooking quintet on a solid set of straightahead jazz. Weeds, who runs the Cellar Live label, approached Hendrickson-Smith about recording a session at the famed Rudy Van Gelder...
Saxophonist Sam Rivers was a towering figure of the avant-garde. His recordings for Blue Note, Impulse and Improvising Artists showcase his remarkable facilities as an instrumentalist, composer and improviser, skills he was able to develop even further at his freewheeling New York City jazz loft, Studio RivBea, in the 1970s. Rivers’ trio with bassist Dave...
Havana-born pianist Harold López-Nussa continues to transmit great joy and creativity with his exciting approach to jazz with a Cuban accent. A party atmosphere permeates his latest release, Te Lo Dije (Mack Avenue), which features irresistible rhythms and occasional background chatter and vocal interjections from the pianist and his ensemble. As usual, his brother Ruy...
