It would be hard to find a trio better equipped to tackle an entire album of saxophonist Anthony Braxton’s compositions than Thumbscrew. Braxton is an accomplished veteran of the avant-garde, free improvisation, and everything in between. Mary Halvorson (guitar), Tomas Fujiwara (drums, vibraphone), and Michael Formanek (bass) do not approach The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform […]
In September of 1950, twenty-four-year-old George Wein used his college savings to open a nightclub, Storyville, at Boston’s Copley Square Hotel. The venue boldly planned to present jazz in a new light. Taking its name from the legendary New Orleans district of debauchery, brothels, and flophouses from whence the music came, the budding entrepreneur planned […]
Pianist Gerald Clayton first came to the attention of many jazz fans by way of the late Roy Hargrove’s quintet on Earfood (Emarcy, 2008). Since then, the musician has grown to be a fine bandleader in his own right. He has released nothing but high-quality work, with a notable artistic shift between 2011’s Bond: The […]
The term “mentor” comes from a character in Homer’s Odyssey, an epic written in the 8th Century BCE. However, the concept of mentorship dates back to an even earlier era. Some historians suggest that the concept may be as old as humanity itself. Though hardly novel, there can be significant benefits to both parties. From […]
Humanity has a longstanding fascination with incorporating the latest technological developments into music. This interest is perhaps most evident in the history of sampling. In the 1940s, Pierre Schaeffer started producing sonic collages by splicing and manipulating sound recordings. His works formed the base of an experimental form known as musique concrète, an avant-garde progenitor […]
In 2015, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah created the Stretch Music imprint with Ropeadope Records to support jazz rooted genre blind music that encompasses a wide range of other musical forms and cultures. While its releases have aptly fulfilled this goal, thus far they have been confined solely to the trumpeter’s own boundary-defying works. Before even […]
Cellist Okkyung Lee is best known for her visceral attack and extended techniques, which can be heard on past albums such as Ghil (Ideologic Organ, 2013). On Yeo-Neun (Shelter Press, 2020), she embraces the delicacy of chamber music, leading a quartet including Maeve Gilchrist (harp), Eivind Opsvik (bass), and Jacob Sacks (piano). Lee has not […]
During the last few years, many young musicians have approached improvisation not only in the traditional method – as instrumentalists – but also as producers who create beats and use synthesizers to convey their voices. Flying Lotus, Thundercat, and several British acts such as Alfa Mist and Tom Misch are among the artists who have […]
When many think of Texas, the first musicians that may come to mind are Bob Wills, Stevie Ray Vaughn, or Willie Nelson. However, these legendary figures are, in some ways, each mere reflective points. Historical emergence from the melding of countless Native, Latin, African, and European cultures has produced a rich yet underreported musical heritage. […]
The Brecker Brothers, throughout their twenty-year career, always embodied an interesting duality in their music. On the one hand, every member was accomplished in pop, funk, and R&B, performing on seminal albums with everyone from Frank Zappa to Parliament-Funkadelic. Their recordings are infused with a unique tightness of the horns and a deep groove, both […]
