Jazz
New York @ Night: January 2012
In the January 2012 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — In a cheerful and loquacious introduction at Bar Next Door (Dec. 4), guitarist Peter Mazza announced his plan for the evening: arrangements of standards, reflecting a passion for rich and intricate harmony. Flanked by Marco Panascia on upright bass and Roggerio Boccato on a scaled-down percussion kit, Mazza
On Michael Feinstein
My feature article on Michael Feinstein, in the December 2011 print issue of JazzTimes, is now online.
Six Picks: January 2012
Happy New Year! To start us off, my monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in The New York City Jazz Record, January 2012: Dan Blake, The Aquarian Suite (BJU) Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet, Apparent Distance (Firehouse 12) Emmet Cohen, In the Element (Bada Beep) Dave Douglas & So Percussion, Bad Mango (Greenleaf) Adam Rudolph’s Go:Organic Orchestra, The Sound of a
Best of 2011
The JJA has started posting Best-Of lists for the year 2011 — my entry here.
Nicholas Payton and “jazz”
Inevitably, a firestorm erupted on Twitter and Facebook after trumpeter Nicholas Payton published this post, titled “On Why Jazz Isn’t Cool Anymore.” And then this follow-up, “An Open Letter To My Dissenters.” In the second post Payton writes, “‘Jazz’ is an oppressive colonialist slave term and I want no parts [sic] of it.” This sounds similar to Fred Ho’s assessment:
New York @ Night: December 2011
In the December 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — There was much to digest while watching Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society perform “Brooklyn Babylon,” an hourlong work programmed by BAM’s Next Wave Festival (Nov. 10). Danijel Zezelj, standing on a catwalk, painted haunting images in black and red, using a small roller on a wide and narrow canvas as
Six Picks: December 2011
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in The New York City Jazz Record, December 2011: Rez Abbasi’s Invocation, Suno Suno (Enja) Greg Burk Trio, The Path Here (482 Music) Michael Cain, Solo (Native Drum) Kevin Hays, Variations (Pirouet) Dan Tepfer, Goldberg Variations/Variations (Sunnyside) Anthony Wilson, Seasons: Live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Goat Hill)
On Ben Allison, Sonny Rollins
In recent print issues of Stereophile magazine, my reviews of Ben Allison’s Action-Refraction and Sonny Rollins’s Road Shows, Vol. 2.