By George Cole, Jazz Views Most eight-year old boys are busy playing with their friends, but when Charnett Moffett was that age, he was playing bass, and touring and recording with his father, the free jazz drummer Charles Moffett. Moffett senior played drums with Ornette Coleman, and the name Charnett is a portmanteau of Charles … Read More
by Euan Dixon, Derek Ansell, Jazz Views The August 2021 issue of Jazz Views UK includes reviews of Steven Feifke‘s Kinetic, Dara Tucker‘s Dreams of Waking: Music for a Better World, Tim Mayer‘s Keeper of the Flame and Paul Bedal‘s Cerulean Stars. Read the full reviews here.
Keith Brown African Ripples by George Cole Read it here. Alex Conde Descarga for Bud by Derek Ansell Read it here. Tim Hagans and the NDR Bigband A Conversation by Euan Dixon Read it here.
By Euan Dixon, Jazz Views The bright, incisive hard bop trumpet playing of Tim Hagans has enlivened many a session from his early work with the Stan Kenton orchestra of the seventies through impressive contributions to small groups such as those lead by tenorist Gordon Brisker and bassist Ron McClure. Working with the Thad Jones … Read More
By Derek Ansell, Jazz Views This is a jazz big band very much in the classic tradition but with a full, contemporary sound of their own. Derrick Gardner is trumpet soloist, arranger, composer and leader of this ensemble, taking brassy, open solos on several tracks but leaving plenty of space for his talented soloists within … Read More
By Derek Ansell, Jazz Views A&R are April May Webb and Randall Haywood. They met in 2013 when she visited a New Jersey jazz club and heard him playing trumpet. Or Flugelhorn as he plays both. From then on they became inseparable as a couple and in making music together. How do I know? Because … Read More
By Derek Ansell, Jazz Views Vazquez spent time jamming in NYC at an East Village location in the 1970s as a teenaged trombone player. He continues a 40- year career with this recording, planned in March 2020 but blocked by a NYC lockdown. The ensemble finally made it in June and July and have produced … Read More
By George Cole, Jazz Views Sometimes, it’s good to go back to basics. In these days of limitless multi-track recording, endless Pro-Tools tweaking and relentless overdubbing, it’s easy for the music to become secondary to the technology. So hats off to Alex Wintz for going into the studio with a stripped-down band and recording the … Read More
By Derek Ansell, Jazz Views It is called Party Of Four but really this release is a party of eight. The Royal Bopsters are a vocal group of soprano, alto, tenor and bass and they are accompanied gracefully here by the trio of Schmidt, Brown, Williams and Kroon on piano, bass, drums and percussion, respectively. … Read More
By George Cole, Jazz Views Even before the Covid-19 crisis, being a professional jazz musician was a precarious occupation. That is why many jazz artists (including those considered top-flight) are forced to supplement their income through clinics, jingles sessions, private tutoring, postings at academic institutions or occasionally supporting a pop artist on tour, a much … Read More
