Sébastien Hélary, NextBop Alto saxophonist and composer Greg Ward has a new album in store for us coming January 11th to Greenleaf Music on which he introduces his new band: Rogue Parade. Ward’s fourth album Stomping Off From Greenwood does, in fact, feature a quintet of heavyweight creative Chicago musicians namely, guitarists Matt Gold and Dave Miller, … Read More
Alex Henderson, New York City Jazz Record My Dance came as a surprise to longtime followers of singer Judi Silvano in 2014. More than the fact that her only accompaniment was Michael Abene (of MDR Big Band fame) was that Silvano was performing exclusively original material. Although Silvano had included original songs on previous releases, … Read More
Ron Schepper, Textura Russ Johnson: Headlands Woolgathering Records Matt Ulery: Sifting Stars Woolgathering Records Bassist and composer Matt Ulery’s a proud ambassador for Chicago’s ever-vital jazz scene, yet Sifting Stars, his eighth as a bandleader since his 2008 debut, is hardly a jazz recording in the conventional sense; in fact, a listener coming to his music for the … Read More
Filipe Freitas, Jazz Trail Weighting, the fourth studio album by pianist Gabriel Zucker consists in an extended composition divided into eight movements. The music, inspired by excerpts of Rachel Kushner’s novel The Flamethrowers, is performed by a bass-less new quartet whose frontline is composed of Eric Trudel on tenor saxophone and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet, … Read More
George Harris, Jazz Weekly The composition and arranging skills of Anthony Fung are well highlighted on this strong and varied session. There is a core team of Edmar Colon/ts-ss, Joshn Johnson/as, Simon Moullier/vib, Isaac Wilson/p-synth and Mats Sandahl/b along with some guest saxes, percussionists, vocals and a string quartet to boot. The strings meld with … Read More
Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest Music From the Great Midwest – Chicago (Part One) Over the past 13 years, bassist, composer, and record label owner Matt Ulery has proven himself to be one of the more adventurous souls in contemporary music. Sit through one of his albums and you’ll hear elements of jazz, “prog-rock”, art music, classical … Read More
Following the successful double release of I Remember Bu: Alive Vol. 4 from The Gen-Next Big Band and Inward Venture from Aggregate Prime, iconic drummer, bandleader and Berklee professor Ralph Peterson Jr. is now thrilled to continue his restless touring schedule with the Messenger Legacy ensemble. Due to release a new album in May 2019 … Read More
Jackson Sinnenberg, Capital Bop Gabriel Zucker does not like resolution. One of his big aims as a composer is to subvert the tidily packaged cadences and compositional finales that have become a hallmark of the Western music tradition. To his ears, those kinds of devices feel divorced from our lived reality — where virtually nothing … Read More
Troy Dostert, All About Jazz One thing’s certain when you listen to a Russ Johnson record: you’re going to hear music made with care and craft. Johnson is a discerning composer and trumpeter, and he has a special talent for producing thoughtful compositions that possess enough fluidity and creativity to remain fresh even after repeated encounters. He’s … Read More
Newark, N.J. — Laurin Talese won first prize at the 7th Annual Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition. The event, hosted by stalwart WBGO Radio host Rhonda Hamilton, took place on November 18th at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, NJ. Talese received a $5,000 cash prize as well as a performance slot at … Read More
