by David Whiteis, JazzTimes “Oscar Hernández, longtime pianist, arranger, and musical director for Rubén Blades’ orchestra and founder/musical director of the Grammy-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra, wears his prestige lightly. This is his third recording since 2017 with the quartet Alma Libre (augmented here, at various points, by trumpeter Aaron Janik, vibist Joe Locke, and hand-percussionist … Read More
By David Whiteis, JazzTimes Trumpeter Derrick Gardner is an alumnus of the 1990s-era, Frank Foster-led Count Basie Orchestra—a connection that’s immediately evident in the voicings and blends he has devised for his Big dig! Band, as well as in his tireless dedication to swing. Read This Full review here.
By: David Whiteis, Jazz Times Dream Shanti is the latest project to evolve under the aegis of woodwind player Jeff Coffin, a former member of Béla Fleck & the Flecktones who has also put in time with the Dave Matthews Band and leads his own ensemble, Jeff Coffin & the Mu’tet. Here he gathers an … Read More
By: David Whiteis, JazzTimes “Serious play” may be a cliché by now, but it exemplifies the spirit that dances through this set. Apropos to the title, the emphasis is on mutuality: unison melody lines dissolving into contrapuntal interplay (both improvised and otherwise); shifting time signatures (often juxtaposed against one another); abrupt alterations in voicing. The … Read More
David Whiteis, JazzTimes If, as critic Larry Kart has postulated, jazz is “a form of self-enactment in sound,” then this “enactment” must become ambiguous, even contradictory, as the very concept of “self” in our culture becomes increasingly fluid and ineffable. Case in point: Stomping Off from Greenwood’s opener, “Metropolis,” which melds influences and identities with shape-shifting … Read More
