Category Listening…
Previewing…Winter Jazz Fest 2015
I’ll be in New York City this week for the JazzConnect conference and Winter Jazz Fest. Tickets for the marathon of concerts on Friday and Saturday are only $55 each, which is less than the price of two sets by some of these artists. But WJF is also a unique opportunity to listen to some of […]
Nature Evolves toward the Beautiful: The Maria Schneider Orchestra at the Jazz Standard (November 28, 2014)
Every year the Maria Schneider Orchestra takes up residency at the Jazz Standard. This year they’re celebrating their 10th anniversary with an engagement that continues through November 30, 2014. I joined them on Friday, November 28th, for the 10pm set. The Orchestra began with “Dance You Monster to My Soft Song” from Evanescence, Schneider’s 1994 […]
Listening with Sympathetic Eyes: Sara Serpa and Ran Blake Live at the Kitano (June 6, 2014)
How appropriate that the Thursday night performance at the Kitano by Sara Serpa and Ran Blake began with “The Short Life of Barbara Monk”: the duo—still basking in the glow of their most recent and highly successful record Aurora—performed this Blake original as the first of many short vignettes, all characterized by subtle musicality and understated but unceasing […]
A belated happy 1st birthday to TRoS & the best 2013 jazz albums I (haven’t yet) heard
Such is the life of full-time professor who blogs part-time: lesson plans, class prep, and grading always come before new posts (the numerous half-drafted entries notwithstanding). I have been so immersed in grant applications, freelance academic writing, but most especially my majors-level jazz theory & improv course that I even forgot to mark the one-year […]
Concert Review…Celebrating Cecil at the Painted Bride
At the Painted Bride Saturday night (March 8th), five titans of improvised music gathered in honor of their friend, colleague, and mentor Cecil Taylor in anticipation of the pianist’s upcoming 85th birthday. The performance was the first of three concerts—billed as the “Still the New Thing” Festival—which saxophonist Bobby Zankel is curating. In his program notes […]
Album review…Mara Rosenbloom Quartet, “Songs from the Ground” (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2013)
Pianist Mara Rosenbloom suffuses artistic vision into each musical gesture—each corner and crevice—of her recent release, Songs from the Ground. The album’s cover art shows her audience in simple and poignant terms the foundation for her music—roots. More specifically, the cover art shows the roots of an orchid, photographed by childhood friend and long-time collaborator […]
Album review…Nick Finzer, “Exposition” (Outside In, 2013)
Earlier this year, trombonist Nick Finzer released his debut album, Exposition, a compelling opening statement for the beginning of his recording career and an enticing introduction to the subsequent albums that will surely follow. Featuring a cohesive group of young musicians with strong individual skills, Exposition comes together around the strength of Finzer’s compositions and […]
Album review…Charles Lloyd Quartet, “Rabo de Nube” (ECM, 2008)
[This review was originally published in Jazz Improv Magazine in 2008. -ML] In celebration of his seventieth birthday, Charles Lloyd is releasing Rabo de Nube, recorded live in Basel, Switzerland, on April 27, 2007. This album features Lloyd’s newest quartet, with Jason Moran on piano, Reuben Rogers on bass, and Eric Harland on drums. This group infuses […]
Enunciating Power and Ex…Plosive Time: Cécile McLorin Salvant’s “Woman Child” and Silence Undone
Of all the countless, captivating moments I have heard and re-heard in WomanChild, there are two that struck me right away—on my first listen to the album—and that continue to surprise me each time I hear them. I haven’t been able to let these moments go—not for the three months prior to the album release […]
An Understated, but Unwavering Groove: Lionel Loueke Trio at the Jazz Standard (September 13, 2013)
Performing compositions from his new recording, Heritage (Blue Note, 2012), Lionel Loueke and his trio are just finishing tonight a residency at the Jazz Standard. I attended the early set on Friday, September 13th, which Loueke began with “Ouidah,” singing and subvocalizing along with his guitar and its clear, ebullient tone. The tune’s groove—like the entire […]
The Rhythm of Study 