Music
The week on disc (19)
In case you missed the last one… John Ruocco, Am I Asking Too Much? (Pirouet) Warren Wolf, Raw (ind.) Samuel Blaser Quartet, 7th Heaven (Between the Lines) Harry Allen-Joe Cohn Quartet, Stompin’ the Blues (Arbors Jazz) Jon Irabagon, Outright! (Innova) Connie Evingson, Little Did I Dream: Songs by Dave Frishberg (Minnehaha Music)
Six Picks: June 2008
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, June 2008: Ambrose Akinmusire, Prelude (Fresh Sound New Talent) Nicholas Payton, Into the Blue (Nonesuch) Poolplayers, Way Below the Surface (Songlines) Dafnis Prieto Sextet, Taking the Soul for a Walk (Dafnison Music) Saxophone Summit, Seraphic Light (Telarc) George Schuller’s Circle Wide, Like Before, Somewhat After (Playscape)
Worst nightmare
I’ve received news that Ajay Heble, director of the Guelph Jazz Festival, whose research work I’ve written about here, suffered a major heart attack while aboard a plane. Age 47. He’s stable, thank goodness.
On Marcin Wasilewski
My review of pianist Marcin Wasilewski and his trio, in today’s Inquirer.
The week on disc (18)
In case you missed the last one… Ellis Marsalis, An Open Letter to Thelonious (ELM) Francisco Pais Quintet, School of Enlightenment (Product of Imagination) Bill McHenry Quintet, Sonic Pressure (Fresh Sound New Talent) Yitzhak Yedid, Oud Bass Piano Trio (Between the Lines) Enrico Pieranunzi, As Never Before (Cam Jazz) The Roots, Rising Down (Def Jam)
On Michael Pedicin
My review of saxophonist Michael Pedicin and his quintet, in today’s Inquirer.
The Pew Fellows on film
I recently had the pleasure of writing four short sketches on King Britt, Gerald Levinson, Peter Paulsen and Jamey Robinson — the 2007 Pew Fellows for music composition. You can now view short film segments on each of these varied and remarkable artists at the Pew Fellowships site, here. If you cursor over “Description of Work” on the left sidebar,
The week on disc (17)
In case you missed the last one… Box, Studio 1 (Rune Grammofon) Dapp Theory, Layers of Chance (ObliqSound) Taylor Eigsti, Let It Come to You (Concord) Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet, One Dance Alone (Songlines) Soren Kjaergaard/Ben Street/Andrew Cyrille, Optics (ILK) Pete Robbins, Do the Hate Laugh Shimmy (Playscape)