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On Matthew Shipp
My feature article on pianist Matthew Shipp, in the January/February 2010 issue of JazzTimes. The whole thing is online, but I’ll scan the print layout soon.
Christmas Time Is Here
Well, this comes a little late. But thought I’d share this beautiful Vince Guaraldi waltz from A Charlie Brown Christmas. (I never knew that Jerry Granelli plays drums on the original version!)
Village Voice annual jazz poll
I was glad to take part once again. Results here. Francis Davis’s reflections here. Individual ballots here.
On Ari Hoenig
In the current Philadelphia Weekly: Ari Hoenig’s Oscillations QuartetSat., Dec. 26, 8pm. $20. Chris’ Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St. 215.568.3131 www.chrisjazzcafe.com From the physical mayhem of Ari Hoenig’s drumming — limbs flailing, face contorted in agonized delight — comes music of unsurpassed depth and control. Little wonder the Philly native has become world-renowned, with two unaccompanied drumset albums and two
Not to be overlooked
I’m not sure I’ll do another Week on Disc before the holidays are out, so I wanted to draw attention to Carla’s Christmas Carols (Watt), a seasonal gem by legendary pianist-composer-arranger Carla Bley, her longtime collaborator Steve Swallow on electric bass, and the superb Partyka Brass Quintet. Beautiful arranging and hip detours on “Away In a Manger,” “O Tannenbaum” and
The week on disc (60)
In case you missed the last one… Nobuyasu Furuya Trio, Bendowa (Clean Feed) Ben Wendel/Harish Raghavan/Nate Wood, ACT (BJU) Yulia Musayelyan Quartet, Caminos (ind.) (Another) Nuttree Quartet (Liebman/Abercrombie/Anderson/Nussbaum), Something Sentimental (Kind of Blue) Bill Dixon, Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12) Jeb Patton, New Strides (MaxJazz)
Self-importance watch
“While there are many lessons that can be drawn from this historic upset, the main one is this: that ordinary people, banding together in solidarity, can change ANYTHING, be it the pop charts or the world.” — Rage Against the Machine, after a fan-driven effort made “Killing in the Name” the #1 Christmas single in the UK, beating out X
Afghan reality checks
From reading Robert Greenwald’s antiwar website Rethink Afghanistan, or the work of pacifist Derrick Crowe, one of RA’s house bloggers, you would think that Obama’s plan is to reenact the My Lai massacre on a regular basis and maybe drink the blood of the victims in ritualistic triumph. Crowe writes: I held my nose and voted for President Obama last