In the summer of 1957, at the Five Spot jazz club in Manhattan, the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane created daily queues almost halfway around the block of jazz aficionados eager to hear that modern music.
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Listening to this trio is like standing at the confluence of three large, surging rivers. The three musical currents flow together into a powerful new music that rises over the banks and floods the senses. The trio’s show at Koen-Dori Classics was a testament to how musicians with such different backgrounds and approaches can create truly masterful improvised music.
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What makes this big band special is not just the stellar musicianship and intriguing arrangements, but the original approach to tunes based on, adapted from and influenced by Japanese music. That multi-cultural approach to creating music is, after all, at the heart of jazz.
Read MoreBrazilians artists have this incredible ability to build a full party from what is supposed to be a live concert.
Read MoreThough the evening was a CD release party for his latest work, “From This Moment On,” what was nicest about the evening was the birthday vibe.
Read MoreThe trio layers on delicate musical tissues, waiting to be teased apart into fuller imaginings.
Read MorePalmieri and his orchestra are, as the phrase has it, a genuine force of nature. But really, the band is a force of culture!
Read MoreKing Cake Baby is a superb unit dedicated to New Orleans music and the great culture the music sprang from. Don’t miss them.
Read More...bringing in their Middle Eastern roots together with European harmonies, pop tunes, jazz standards and modern jazz in a mélange that felt less mixed than fluid.
Read MoreAn evening of Australian jazz is a rare treat outside of Australia!
Read MoreTatopani has not only traveled the musical roads, but lived in the villages along the way.
Read MoreInside Fujii's and Tamura’s world of magical improv, time flows with its own wild currents and the title of any song is suffused with multiple ironies.
Read MoreJane Siberry is one of Canada’s greatest national resources, a life-affirming singer-songwriter who cooks up catchy, quirky melodies and compelling, often-wry, always moving stories.
Read MoreAramaki handles the bass like it’s a ukulele. He makes it seem small and easy to control. His muscular approach to the wood and strings creates a tough, hard-driving jazz that is all his own. Whether he’s popping an opening riff or stretching out on a solo, he makes the bass sound like it should—deep, strong and rock solid.
Read MoreIt’s always a pleasure to hear jazz from another country, but with Kireyev that seems like several countries, all of them filled with the passion and energy of jazz.
Read MoreButler plays sax that sounds natural and right, but engages at all kinds of levels.
Read MoreThe sleek sound of his guitar set off the grittier saxes with just the right balance.
Read MoreTada Seiji has spent so much time playing live, his shows seem as easy as breathing for him. Of course, he’s breathing pretty hard and fast on some of the songs...
Read MoreFrom Latin to straight-ahead jazz to Cuban dance to free jazz, to pop-like quotes and Art Tatum-like flourishes, Rubalcaba clearly felt at home to play what he felt.
Read MoreThe southern winds were blowing to bring the spring with Steve Sack's Spring Quartet.
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