From the June 2013 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — For the second year the Undead Music Festival kicked off with a night of Improvised Round-Robin Duets, but the lineup at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (May 1st) couldn’t have been more of a departure. Simply put, this wasn’t strictly a jazz event. Jazz players did take part, however, and
From the July 2012 issue of The New York City Jazz Record. — You might not think there’s room in the universe for another Thelonious Monk tribute. But pianist Eric Reed’s two most recent Savant discs, The Dancing Monk and The Baddest Monk, aren’t retreads in any sense: they’re consistently fresh and insightful, not to mention flat-out swinging. Leading a
In the August 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — To this point, guitarist Rez Abbasi has focused overwhelmingly on original material, and although his work could be said to sit within the modernist mainstream of jazz, he’s spent little time in public playing standard tunes. That changed when he appeared in a trio setting with bassist Johannes
In the June 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — From the first seconds of their show at Issue Project Room (May 5th), Starlicker sent pounding asymmetric rhythms and deft unison passages flooding into the boomy loft-like space in Gowanus. The trio’s members — cornetist Rob Mazurek, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, drummer John Herndon (of Tortoise) — hail from