CD reviews
On Avishai Cohen
This review appears in the April 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — Avishai Cohen Introducing Triveni (Anzic) By David R. Adler It’s hard to avoid the word “authenticity” when describing the raw, bone-deep sense of swing that permeates Introducing Triveni, easily one of the top jazz recordings of 2010. Trumpeter Avishai Cohen, bassist Omer Avital and drummer
On Anthony Wilson
This review appears in the April 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — Anthony Wilson Campo Belo (Goat Hill) By David R. Adler In frequent visits to Brazil since 2005, guitarist Anthony Wilson laid the groundwork and nourished the alliances that led to the marvelous Campo Belo, featuring André Mehmari on piano, Guto Wirtti on bass and
On Jane Ira Bloom
This review appears in the March 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — Jane Ira Bloom Wingwalker (Outline) By David R. Adler The breadth and allure of Jane Ira Bloom’s music seems to grow with every release. Wingwalker, her latest, is a fine showcase of her soprano saxophone mastery but also her compositional and bandleading wiles. Part
On Gerald Cleaver
This review appears in the March 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — Gerald Cleaver’s Uncle June Be It As I See It (Fresh Sound New Talent) By David R. Adler It’s scarcely an exaggeration to say that drummer Gerald Cleaver can play everything: from the down-the-middle postbop of Jeremy Pelt to the free-blowing fury of Charles
On Dave Douglas
This review appears in the March 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — Dave Douglas & Keystone Spark of Being: Soundtrack/Expand/Burst (Greenleaf) By David R. Adler Something about trumpeter Dave Douglas’s electric band Keystone lends itself to film projects. The first two records, Keystone (2006) and Moonshine (2008), took silent film icon Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle as their
On Brad Mehldau
This review appears in the March 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record (formerly All About Jazz-New York). — Brad Mehldau Live in Marciac (Nonesuch) By David R. Adler Brad Mehldau’s 2010 release Highway Rider, a sweeping orchestral double-album, was muddled in some respects, but one thing was clear: It was hardly intended as a bravura piano showcase.
On Shauli Einav
This review appears in the February 2011 issue of All About Jazz-New York. [Note: As of the March 2011 issue, AAJ-NY will be known as The New York City Jazz Record. Details here.] — Shauli Einav, Opus One (Plus Loin) By David R. Adler It’s clear that Israeli-born saxophonist Shauli Einav is capable of “blowing his face off,” as pianist
On Scott Colley
This review appears in the February 2011 issue of All About Jazz-New York. — Scott Colley, Empire (CAM Jazz) By David R. Adler The title Empire could lead one to think that bassist Scott Colley’s seventh album is an artistic comment on foreign policy. In fact, Empire is a now-vanished town in Kansas where Colley’s great-great-grandfather, Joseph J. Colby, settled