Reviews
Roy Hargrove Quintet + Pharoah Sanders @ Yoshi’s
Roy Hargrove and Pharoah Sanders... at first glance it might have looked like a misprint. But it was true. Kicking off a two-week residency that Yoshi's hopes to make an annual tradition, Hargrove's quintet was booked at the club's San Francisco stage for four nights with saxophonist Sanders as a special guest star. But would this unlikely pairing of divergent musical personalities work? [more] »
Sound Bites: January 10, 2010
Short takes on recent releases by Wayne Escoffery (Uptown), Von Freeman (Vonski Speaks), Komeda Project (Requiem), Donny McCaslin (Declaration) and James Weidman (Three Worlds). [more] »
CDs in Brief: January 2, 2010
Short takes on recent releases by Rez Abbasi (Things to Come), Coke/Marsh/Feld (It's Possible), Jonathon Haffner (Life on Wednesday), Darryl Harper (Stories in Real Time), Arturo Stable (Call) and Marcus Strickland (Idiosyncracies). [more] »
Toshiko Akiyoshi & Lew Tabackin at Yoshi’s
Early in her 8:00 set at Yoshi's San Francisco, pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi spoke in charmingly accented English about the salad days of her six-decade career. She said that after spending her youth in Japan absorbing and imitating other pianists, she eventually realized "the need to find my own idiosyncracies." [more] »
Monterey 2009: Parting Thoughts
The 52nd annual Monterey Jazz Festival has come to a successful conclusion. Once again, the festival organizers have brought together fantastic music and a warm community atmosphere for an experience that will be remembered for years to come. [more] »
Monterey 2009: Jason Moran – “Feedback”
The Monterey Jazz Festival's annual commission for new original work often yields something unexpected and memorable. But perhaps never has there been a festival commision as unusual as "Feedback," the 20-minute piece premiered by pianist Jason Moran at the start of Sunday night's Arena program. [more] »
Monterey 2009: Buffalo Collision
The Monterey Jazz Festival took an abrupt turn into the avant-garde when Buffalo Collision, a unique combination of two advanced strains of freeform jazz, took the Garden Stage for the space between Sunday's afternoon and evening programs. [more] »
Monterey 2009: Alfredo Rodriguez Trio
From the start of his late afternoon set at the Monterey Jazz Festival's Garden Stage, Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez made it clear that his was music for serious listening. Opening with a piece that slowly coalesced from misty dispersion into a sinister pulse, Rodriguez played short phrases, then extrapolated them up and down the keyboard, repeating or embroidering, pounding away at single chords and describing intricate designs, allowing each only a brief moment of flight before moving on to the next idea. [more] »
