By Bill Kopp, Musoscribe Released in 1959, The Dave BrubeckQuartet’s Time Out is a landmark album. An accomplished synthesis of West Coast and cool jazz, it’s remarkable for combining “unusual” time signatures – defined here as most anything beyond 3/4 and 4/4 – and musical accessibility. Read More here.
By Bill Kopp, Musoscribe One of the most important and influential figures in the music of the 20th century, Louis Armstrong had a recording career that spanned from the early 1920s through 1970, the year prior to his passing. Read the full review here.
Bill Kopp, The Blurt It’s a neat trick to make something new while conjuring the aesthetic of something old. But (a) that’s what is expected of jazz players of a certain stripe, and happily (b) that’s what baritone saxophonist B.J. Jansen has taken on as his mission. And with Common Ground, he succeeds. Joined by five … Read More
Bill Kopp, The Blurt To note that NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman (tenor and soprano sax, recorder, flute) and Joe Lovano (tenor sax, clarinet, flute, etc.) are established artists is to engage in laughable understatement. But for this new set, the two men set aside their own material and focus instead on the music of … Read More
