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Jazz/Blues

Alto Saxophonist Hayden Chisholm Leads Drummerless Trio on 'Breve,' Pirouet Records (REVIEW)

Some of most adventurous new jazz these days seems to be coming from Germany's Pirouet Records. Case in point is 'Breve' by altoist Hayden Chisholm, 40. His trio, also named Breve, with pianist John Taylor, 73, and bassist Matt Penman, 41, eschews drums for a more flowing sound not led by the dictates of percussion pushing the sound into regimented time signatures. Here, the musicians are free to flow and do so in strange, serene and captivating ways.
By Mike Greenblatt

  • Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong and the Search for Musical Expression and Self

    A lot of jazz aficinados even find John Coltrane hard to listen to. His volcanic torrent of notes, pushing hard to escape from his saxophone, can overwhelm even the most liberal minded of listeners. This upheavel was Coltrane's attempt to purge his soul and gain a synesthesia with his subconscious. Miles Davis turmoil was also present on the very surface of his music, skimming off the top, exposing raw nerve. Unlike Coltrane, Davis was calculating about what he was exposing in his search. He was careful, guarded and mistrustful. Louis Armstrong completes the triangle. No outward agenda, at least musically speaking, Armstrong was the shaman. Only if you were paying attention did you see his self, the abandoned orphan looking for a mother figure through musical expression.
    By Thomas Swan

  • Sinatra Croons, Swings and Jokes as 'A Voice On Air 1935-1955,' Legacy Recordings (REVIEW)

    This might be the grand-daddy of boxed sets: not for its bulk, but for its cultural importance. For it is here where America grew to love Frank Sinatra, 'A Voice On Air 1935-1955' (Legacy Recordings).
    By Mike Greenblatt