jazz

Classical Music, Commissions, Concert review, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, jazz, Lincoln Center, New York, Orchestras, Premieres

NY Philharmonic Revels in a Rainbow of Colors

An expansive palette of colors was on display at the New York Philharmonic concert at David Geffen Hall on Friday. David Robertson shone a light on the performers and the scores, exposing nuances of hues, pastels, brights and brilliance. The entire program – Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka, the Violin Concerto by Wyton Marsalis and the world premiere of a new work by Caroline Mallonee – focused on color and mood. I had high hopes in particular for this performance of Petrushka, to erase my memory of a flaccid reading of the work a couple of years ago. The Philharmonic redeemed themselves,

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by Gail Wein
File Under?, Improv, jazz, Piano

Keith Jarrett – New Vienna (CD Review)

Keith Jarrett New Vienna ECM Records   Keith Jarrett turned eighty on May 8th, 2025, and to fete him, ECM Records has released New Vienna, a solo piano concert recorded on his last tour, in 2016, at the Goldener Saal, Musik Verein in the Austrian city. A previous recording, The Vienna Concert, recorded in 1991 and released in 2000, was also a solo outing by Jarrett, at the Staatsoper. It has been cherished by many listeners as a particularly fine example among the many live appearances by Jarrett that have been documented and released. New Vienna is a worthy successor. 

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by Christian Carey
CD Review, File Under?, jazz

Jason Anick and Jason Yeager – Sanctuary (Recording Review)

Jason Anick and Jason Yeager – Sanctuary (Sunnyside)   Violinist Jason Anick and pianist Jason Yeager last recorded together in 2017, and their album Unite revealed a simpatico pairing. Just as it was thematically constructed around its title, Sanctuary, their 2024 Sunnyside release, seeks to emphasize the need for recovery and renewal in these challenging times.    They are joined by estimable collaborators, who are ceded space for their own contributions; this never feels like the Jasons dominate the proceedings. Trumpeters Jason Palmer and Billy Buss, tenor saxophonist Edmar Colón, cellist Naseem Alatrash, bassist Greg Loughman, and drummer Mike Connors

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by Christian Carey
BAM, CD Review, Contemporary Classical, Criticism, File Under?, Fundraising, jazz, Piano, Video

Two Favorite of 2024 Recordings from Ethan Iverson (CD Review)

  Ethan Iverson – Technically Acceptable (Blue Note CD, 2024) Ethan Iverson – Playfair Sonatas (Urlicht Audiovisual 2xCD, 2024)   Ethan Iverson is one of the foremost jazz pianists of his generation. An alumnus of the Bad Plus, he has since appeared with a number of artists, both live and on record. He currently teaches at New England Conservatory of Music. Iverson revels in researching all the eras of jazz, from its inception to the most recent innovations, and is also an advocate for American concert music composers of the twentieth century. His Substack, offers a bevy of information about

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by Christian Carey
CD Review, File Under?, Improv, jazz

Ban and Maneri – Transylvanian Dance on ECM (CD Review)

Transylvanian Dance Lucian Ban, piano Mat Maneri, viola ECM Records   “These folk songs teach us many things.”   Transylvanian Dance is the second recording on ECM by pianist Lucian Ban and violist Mat Maneri; the first was Transylvanian Concert (2013). As the album title suggests,  the duo explores Eastern European material, specifically that collected by Béla Bartók. Ban was born in Romania and delights in the fascinating polyrhythms of this region. Maneri is well versed in the microtonal and multi-scalar aspects of folk song. These are not mere transcriptions. Maneri has described them in interviews as, “a springboard,” a

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by Christian Carey
CD Review, File Under?, Improv, jazz

Miles Okazaki – Miniature America

Miles Okazaki – Miniature America (Cygnus Records) Miles Okazaki – guitar Jon Ibragon, sopranino saxophone, slide saxophone, voice Caroline Davis, alto saxophone; Anna Weber, flute, tenor saxophone Jacob Garchik, trombone, bass trombone Matt Mitchell, piano; Patricia Brennan, vibraphone Ganavya, Jen Shyu, Fay Victor, voices David Breskin, producer   Miles Okazaki’s latest recording, Miniature America, is one in which his compositional process has changed. He spent time sketching elements of sculpturist Ken Price’s work and was also inspired by the intricate line drawings of Sol Lewitt. The pieces created as a result of this research were coined “Slabs” by Okazaki, process

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by Christian Carey
CDs, Contemporary Classical, Guitar, jazz

Wolfgang Muthspiel with Etudes/Quietudes – Solo Live Recording at ORF Radiokulturhaus Vienna Celebrates Craftsmanship and Creativity

With his new solo program, Etudes/Quietudes, Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel celebrates the acoustic guitar, the instrument he switched to at the age of 13. (He had been trained to play classical music on violin.) The core of this new recording is a collection of concert etudes composed by .Muthspiel. Each of these 11 etudes explores a different aspect of the music for guitar, ranging from reflective to animated. The etudes are linked by four other pieces, such as Muthspiel’s heartfelt homage to Bill Evans (“For Bill Evans”); a sarabande by Johann Sebastian Bach (on which he improvises with elements from

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by Antje Huebner
Brooklyn, CD Review, File Under?, Improv, jazz, Piano

Marta Sanchez – Perpetual Void (CD Review)

Marta Sanchez Perpetual Void Intakt CD 421 Jazz pianist and composer Marta Sanchez was born in Madrid and now resides in Brooklyn. She presents eleven originals on her fifth recording, Perpetual Void (Intakt, 2024).  Usually Sanchez performs and records with a quintet featuring two saxophonists. Here, in her first trio outing, she is joined by bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Savannah Harris. The leaner lineup works well, as it allows Sanchez abundant room to solo and, moreover, to express elements of the emotional journey that transpired during the time she composed the works on Perpetual Void. She had lost her

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by Christian Carey
Brooklyn, Concerts, Events, Experimental Music, Festivals, File Under?, jazz

William Parker Celebrated at Vision Fest

Vision Fest 2024 – William Parker Receives a Lifetime of Achievement Award On June 18th, luminary bassist, bandleader, poet, and composer William Parker will receive a Lifetime of Achievement Award at Vision Fest 2024. The Brooklyn series for ecstatic jazz and improvised music has often featured Parker in a variety of ensemble configurations and in memorable solo performances.  He will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 18th, with a plethora of events (below)  and performances that will also be livestreamed (tickets). There is more to celebrate. On Friday, June 21st, AUM Fidelity is releasing two recordings featuring Parker.  William Parker and

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by Christian Carey
File Under?, Guitar, jazz

The Sorcerer – Gábor Szabó (LP Review)

The Sorcerer – Gábor Szabó (Impulse)   Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó performed the music on The Sorcerer in 1967 at the Jazz Workshop, Boston. His first live recording as a leader, Szabó is joined by guitarist Jimmy Stewart, bassist Louis Kabok, percussionist Hal Gordon, and drummer Marty Morrell. Szabó plays a diverse array of originals, standards, and even a pop tune by Sonny Buono.    It’s fair to say that not many jazz artists have recorded “The Beat Goes On,” but here it is stripped of its sentimental associations, with the emphasis being instead on its backbeat and effusive duo

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by Christian Carey