Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who turned 80 last month, is often and accurately referred to as the greatest living composer in jazz. But that's too stuffy a description for who he is and what he does. As he put it to NPR earlier this year, "For me, the word 'jazz' means 'I dare you.' The effort to break out of something is worth more than getting an A in syncopation." The daredevilry of Shorter's jazz is utterly… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
[Get a taste of Northern Spy's catalog with this free 16-track sampler — Ed.] Northern Spy Records is the baby of co-owners Tom Abbs and Adam Downey, birthed after both left their jobs at the legendary ESP-Disk, a label with a similarly solid reputation for releasing music on the fringes. At ESP, free jazz legends like Albert Ayler, Guiseppe Logan and Frank Wright shared space with noise and psych-rock bands like The Godz and Fugs. For… more »
One good thing about jazz is that it can be made persuasively without reinventing the wheel. There’s plenty of space at the outer reaches, but great value can still be found from music that stays in the tradition, assuming it’s coming from players who are thoroughly versed in jazz lineage and who are resourceful enough to not be merely copying what they’ve heard. Pianist Bruce Barth is one of these musicians, and his album Live at the Village Vanguard is a prime example of how someone who has learned from… more »
It is good to have Kenny Garrett back so firmly in the driver’s seat. Coming on the heels of Seeds From The Underground from 2012, Pushing The World Away marks the first time in a decade that Garrett has released albums under his own name in consecutive years. It’s a wide-ranging collection, with multiple flavors, variously featuring three different drummers, two pianists, a percussionist, a guest trumpeter and a chamber string section, with Garrett departing from his alto sax for soprano on one tune and piano on another. And… more »
Occasionally I’ll play Wofford for friends, savvy listeners who, nevertheless, don’t know him. Invariably, I’ll hear, “Who is this guy? He’s fantastic.” It’s surprising how completely he has fallen through the mainstream cracks. With his lean but elegant tone, understated but creative phrasing, and reassuring but advanced chordal sense, Mike Wofford has gone his quiet way for the past 50 or so years, a better jazz pianist than nearly everyone else on the planet. It’s Personal again shows him blending stylistic elements of Bill Evans, Bud Powell and Art Tatum… more »
Time has revealed drummer Rashied Ali as one of the key figures during a seminal era of jazz, the period in the mid-to-late 1960s when modal jazz began its evolution toward “free.” Ali was presented — some might say strapped — with what seemed like the impossible task of replacing Elvin Jones in John Coltrane’s quintet. Jones and Tony Williams, with the Miles Davis Quintet, were by far the most important post bebop drummers in jazz — arguably, they are the two most important drummers in jazz history — and… more »
Bebop is the fundamental vehicle by which the carbohydrates of modern jazz—harmony, melody and rhythm (starch, sugar and fiber) — are churned and burned into the fuel of life. Since it first emerged nearly 70 years ago, bop has become pervasive, spouting various hybrids that include West Coast jazz, hard bop, and soul jazz. All of this is wrapped up in Bop 'til you stop, our celebration of bebop in all its permutations and splendor. We'll keep… more »
