Category Archives: Reviews

Something for Everyone: Part 2

Various preoccupations have slowed my listening and reviewing, so to pick up some of the slack, “Something for Everyone” features short reviews of six groups, covering a wide range of styles and sensibilities. Featured artists in part 2 include H M C, the Yes trio, and the Matt Slocum trio.

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Something for Everyone: Part 1

Various preoccupations have slowed my listening and reviewing, so to pick up some of the slack, “Something for Everyone” features short reviews of six groups, covering a wide range of styles and sensibilities. Featured artists in part 1 include the Virg Dzurinko/Ryan Messina duo, Leslie Pintchik trio, and Florian Hoefner trio.

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Excellent Big Band Releases from Mike Holober and Remy Le Boeuf

Fans of big band jazz have three reasons to celebrate: The first two are the double-CD Hiding Out, which marks the return of Mike Holober as composer, arranger, and pianist with the Gotham Jazz Orchestra after a 10-year hiatus. The third is the big band premiere of composer/saxophonist/flutist Remy Le Boeuf on Assembly of Shadows. Both projects offer subtle, sophisticated, and superlative feasts of symphonic jazz.

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Literary Beginnings for Ben Goldberg and Ryan Keberle

Clarinetist Ben Goldberg and trombonist Ryan Keberle have launched their latest projects from the impressive pads of poets Dean Young and Langston Hughes, respectively. Goldberg’s Good Day for Cloud Fishing is as quirky as Young’s disarming poetry, and the poet gets to comment on the music. Hughes’ wish for America finds a receptive ear in Keberle, whose The Hope I Hold offers a musical vehicle for the poetry.

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