Music
“Forever Is Here”
My take on the Return to Forever reunion and the legacy of fusion, the lead story in Arts & Entertainment, today’s Inquirer.
Six Picks: August 2008
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, August 2008: Jamie Baum Septet, Solace (Sunnyside) Bill Dixon, 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur (Aum Fidelity) Jimmy Greene, The Overcomer’s Suite (Nujazz) Anne Mette Iversen, Best of the West/Many Places (BJU) Andy Middleton, The European Quartet Live (Q-rious Music) Jeremy Pelt, November (MaxJazz)
On Sonic Liberation Front
My review of Sonic Liberation Front (with Shot x Shot and the SEA Trio), in today’s Inquirer.
Johnny Griffin R.I.P.
And just after I mentioned him in my Ronnie Mathews post. All I can say is: Wes Montgomery’s Full House and Thelonious Monk’s Misterioso. Some of the scariest, most perfectly realized tenor sax playing ever. Thankfully I caught him at the Vanguard in the early ’00s, with Michael Weiss on piano. I seem to remember “Just One of Those Things”
Matt Davis and Aerial Photograph
My cover story on guitarist Matt Davis and his incredible Aerial Photograph project, in the current edition of Philadelphia Weekly.
On Ronnie Mathews
In the better-late-than-never department, I have to double back and say a brief word about the recent death of pianist Ronnie Mathews. Because when I entered the New School jazz program in 1987, Mathews was the first teacher I had. It was a jazz harmony course, and my memory of it is hazy (I turned 40 this year, folks). But
The week on disc (22)
In case you missed the last one… Jeff Gauthier Goatette, House of Return (Cryptogramophone) Ben Wolfe, No Strangers Here (MaxJazz) Joel Harrison, The Wheel (Innova) Scott DuBois, Banshees (Sunnyside) Torben Waldorff, Afterburn (ArtistShare) Jen Chapin & Rosetta Trio, Light of Mine (Purple Chair)
Jazz wars
A must-read from Darcy James Argue on the aftermath of the jazz culture wars.