Liner Notes
Altin Sencalar: Unleashed
by C. Andrew Hovan
Often overshadowed by other solo instruments, the trombone boasts a rich history in jazz--one so vast it could fill volumes. New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, also gave rise to Kid Ory, a pioneer of the “tailgate" style of trombone playing. In the early 1900s, bandleaders often promoted their shows by parading through town on horse-drawn wagons. Trombonists, needing space to extend their instrument's slide, would sit at the back on the open tailgate, projecting their bold, brassy sound into ...
Continue ReadingAntonio Carlos Jobim et al: Focus On Bossa Nova
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
This is a trip into the world of bossa nova. Or the worlds of bossa nova. For the style that made Brazilian music so respected and famous all over the world has some subdivisions that coexist among its universe. Bossa nova ranges from the cool/introspective/airy sounds patented by Joao Gilberto in the late Fifties, to a strong/vigorous/hard-bop influenced samba-jazz that reigned in the mid-Sixties. But both streams are equally sophisticated in harmonic terms, mixing beautiful melodies with captivating grooves. So, ...
Continue ReadingVerve's Bossa Nova U.S.A.
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Paul Desmond: Samba with Some Barbecue Originally titled “Struttin' with Some Barbecue" in 1941, this Satchmo tune lost its Dixie beat and got a bossa groove in the hands of the infallible Don Sebesky. Brazilian drummer Airto Moreira, then a newcomer in the New York jazz scene, provides a fiery propulsion to Paul Desmond's lyrical approach and “dry martini" alto sound. Different from the sad results of pseudo-bossa albums by Gene Ammons, Sonny Rollins, and so many others, this is ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli: Introducing A Very Heavy Person, First Visit
by Mark Corroto
If you reject the assumption that time is linear, the ability to conceive of a time machine is simple. Assume for this discussion that the concepts of past, present, and future are a false dichotomy. In other words, the past and the future simultaneously occur with the present. Composer and percussionist Sergio Armaroli accepts this premise and his quintet accomplishes a rather time-less travel through twelve tracks. Let's back up a bit. In his career, Armaroli has been ...
Continue ReadingDock in Absolute: [Re]Flekt
![Read "Dock in Absolute: [Re]Flekt" reviewed by Brian Morton](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/7c9de437021a8f91187845967a95dfdf.jpg)
by Brian Morton
I wonder if I'd get away with it? An old friend was famous for his ability to turn out newspaper columns at lightning speed and with no notice, often after a generous lunch that had stretched on until near deadline time. He'd gruffly concede that yes, that's what they paid him for, yank out a few sheets of typing paper and without so much as a musing glance upwards, start pounding the keys. Ten, fifteen minutes later, the sub-editors were ...
Continue ReadingFrancesco Bearzatti and Federico Casagrande: And Then Winter Came Again
by Brian Morton
This liner-note begins, unusually, with a charitable appeal. Music reviewers and critics labour in obscure conditions, but this is not an appeal for better pay or more respect. Many of these poor souls suffer from a deeply embarrassing ailment that directly bears on their ability to function at all. As first the co-author and later sole author of a very large jazz reference book, I've had the symptoms for years. The condition is known to the very few doctors who ...
Continue ReadingMichel Reis: For A Better Tomorrow
by Brian Morton
It's always possible to get hung up on definitions, or metaphors. In modern jazz terms the most famous description of a piano is probably Cecil Taylor's “88 tuned drums," a clever way of characterising the instrument's percussive power and of removing it from the strong gravitational pull of European art music. I've always preferred Leigh Hunt's lovely description of the piano as a harp in a box. It's not clear whether Hunt meant it seriously, or as a sly put-down. ...
Continue ReadingWillie Morris: Unbound Inner
by Willie Morris
This album is a culmination of much more than just the compositions, the solos, or the time spent in the studio. It is the coming together of many years of life experience between the musicians featured, the producers, the engineers, and hopefully the listeners. It is a small piece added to an ongoing stream of conscious and unconscious desire to find peace within and fully allow ourselves to embody and express who we are. This music centers on people, their ...
Continue ReadingAltin Sencalar: Unleashed
by Altin Sencalar
Unleashed is an album that captures my overall headspace as an individual. This year I turned 30 years old and welcomed my firstborn child into the world, John Altin Sencalar. Two major milestones in any person's life, but especially mine this year. Unleashed represents my playing, my personality, and my overall attitude towards my career development. When thinking about this album, I take many chances that I would not have done in the past specifically playing the trombone in an ...
Continue ReadingFractal Sextet: Sky Full Of Hope
by Mike Jacobs
Calling Stephan Thelen's music an extension of the Swiss Minimalist movement may have once seemed appropriate. However, in the years since his band Sonar and Fractal Guitar projects have come to the fore, that characterization has increasingly become inadequate. Proximity, influence, and linkages exist but Thelen's copious activities in the last decade show such a deepening of his root concepts coupled with an embrace of the new, the notion is virtually moot. One of the projects that most ...
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