Monthly Archives: February 2013
Track reviews…A Dizzy Gillespie Dozen (jazz.com)
Jazz.com ran a feature called “The Dozens” which highlighted twelve iconic, influential, or otherwise important tracks by a particular artist (described in more detail here). In 2008 I contributed one on Dizzy Gillespie. The tracks I reviewed were: 1. “Pickin’ the Cabbage,” with the Cab Calloway Orchestra (1940) 2. “Lover Come Back to Me,” with […]
Album Review…Steve Lehman Trio, “Dialect Fluorescent” (Pi Recordings, 2012)
On this album Steve Lehman practices an integrated approach to improvisation in which he places each and every musical element in de/constructive play, imbuing every gesture with the potential to spark new phrases and ideas. The trio’s dialogic interplay creatively explores the interrelationships between groove and melody, all the while layering superimpositions and elaborations on […]
Book review…Jean-Michel Pilc, “It’s About Music: The Art and Heart of Improvisation” (Glen Lyon Books, 2012)
An intimate look into the philosophies of pianist and educator Jean-Michel Pilc, It’s About Music provides a potent and widely applicable model for artistic growth through fostering essential musicianship and the individual creativity of the student of improvised music. Pilc’s inspired pedagogy leads through clarity of thought and the power of suggestion rather than heavy-handed […]
Album review…Jean-Michel Pilc, “Essential” (Motema, 2011)
Sketching out the exhilarating landscapes of his artistic world with remarkable transparency, in his album Essential Jean-Michel Pilc shares the magic of the live performance and the intimacy of the private studio. Full of surprise and joy, Pilc’s masterful pianism is refreshingly unapologetic in its expansiveness and endless imagination. Essential, Motema Records MTM-61, 2011. Personnel: Jean-Michel Pilc, solo piano. Tracks: J & […]
Inspired Intuition and Dissociative Play: The Improvising World of Jean-Michel Pilc
One of my old piano teachers used to tell me, “Play the note all the way to the bottom of the key.” His advice was less about volume than about intent: he was cautioning me against the timid play of young improvisers. In that moment, I might know generally what I hoped to accomplish, but […]
Sense, Feeling, and the Rhythm of Study: A Conversation with Jean-Michel Pilc
[The following transcript is excerpted from a conversation with pianist Jean-Michel Pilc recorded on January 15, 2013, at the Kitano Hotel in New York City.] Mark Lomanno (for “The Rhythm of Study”): The blog is brand new, but the work is not. This is one place where I can include my academic writing, my teaching, […]
Album review…Pilc/Moutin/Hoenig, “Threedom” (Motema, 2011)
“Behind anything that can be experienced there is some-thing that our minds cannot grasp, whose beauty and subliminity reaches us only indirectly.” Pianist Jean-Michel Pilc begins his portion of the liner notes with this quote by Albert Einstein. On Threedom, Pilc, along with Ari Hoenig and François Moutin, offer an album of dynamic and engaging reflections […]
The Rhythm of Study 