David Adler
On Curtis Macdonald
This review appears in the February 2013 issue of The New York City Jazz Record. — Curtis Macdonald Twice Through the Wall (ind.) By David R. Adler Twice Through the Wall, the second offering from altoist Curtis Macdonald, is an EP with a running time of just 20 minutes. Far from hurrying through it, Macdonald paces himself, devoting the first
New York @ Night: February 2013
From the February 2013 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — Having endured as a working band for nearly a decade and a half, The Bad Plus doesn’t lack for material. The first Sunday set at the Village Vanguard (Jan. 6) featured pieces from the trio’s latest Made Possible but also others stretching back to Give (2004) and
Six Picks: February 2013
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in The New York City Jazz Record, February 2013: Gregg August, Four By Six (Iacuessa) Ryan Blotnick, Solo, Volume 1 (ind.) Ken Hatfield Sextet, For Langston (Arthur Circle) Rudresh Mahanathappa, Gamak (ACT) Eric Revis, Parallax (Clean Feed) Wayne Shorter Quartet, Without a Net (Blue Note)
New York @ Night: January 2013
Happy New Year again! From the January 2013 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — As a student of Lennie Tristano and a noted colleague of Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, tenor saxophonist Ted Brown provides a living link to the Tristano school — an intriguing area in jazz history, somewhere in the interstices between bop and “cool.”
Six Picks: January 2013
Happy New Year! My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in The New York City Jazz Record, January 2013: Michaël Attias, Spun Tree (Clean Feed) Avishai Cohen, Triveni II (Anzic) Hal Galper Trio, Airegin Revisited (Origin) Jon Irabagon’s Outright!, Unhinged (Irabbagast) Reggie Quinerly, Music Inspired by Freedmantown (Redefinition) Sonic Liberation Front, Jetway Confidential (High Two)
On Dave King
This review appears in the December 2012 issue of The New York City Jazz Record. — Dave King I’ve Been Ringing You (Sunnyside) By David R. Adler Trios loom large in drummer Dave King’s career: consider two of his best-known musical endeavors, the Bad Plus and Happy Apple. The piano, too, is central to King’s identity as a player and
New York @ Night: December 2012
From the December 2012 issue of The New York City Jazz Record. — Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt’s quintet, arguably one of the strongest working bands in jazz, has held together long enough to record four albums: November, Men of Honor, The Talented Mr. Pelt and this year’s Soul. There were new faces onstage, however, when Pelt arrived for a special birthday
Six Picks: December 2012
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in The New York City Jazz Record, December 2012: Jeff Davis, Leaf House (Fresh Sound New Talent) David Gilmore, Numerology: Live at Jazz Standard (Evolutionary Music) Frank Kimbrough Trio, Live at Kitano (Palmetto) Bill McHenry, La Peur du Vide (Sunnyside) Kurt Rosenwinkel, Star of Jupiter (Wommusic) Jacques Schwarz-Bart Quartet, The Art of Dreaming