Flow Trio, "Set Theory" Live at the Stone, Sounding Better Than Ever
The Flow Trio do that. Flow. They flow in a free manner. They flow because each player sets up the other players with what he does, allowing them to invent fertile extended collective improvisations. You can hear that at great length on their Set Theo…
Vibrant Historical Reconstruction with Brian Carpenter’s "Hothouse Stomp"
Early jazz was not a matter of three or four bands with monster soloists playing in a vacuum. Not every band had the over- powering playing of Armstrong, Oliver or Keppard gracing the front line. And jazz as it flowered was not merely a showcase for s…
Francois Carrier Trio + 1 with Bobo Stenson, "Entrance 3", EnTRANCEs
Francois Carrier has style. He keeps a balance between sound, linear content and expressivity in ways that are original and enlivening. When he gathered his alto, his trio and guest Bobo Stenson on piano at the Vancouver Jazz Fest in 2002, there was s…
Ken Peplowski Keeps It Fresh and Vibrant with "In Search of. . . "
For someone who is playing within a tradition, it is important to keep inspiration high, to keep yourself challenged and contributing on a high level. Where perhaps some have fallen victim over time to a kind of creeping fungus of the repertoire, the …
"Jazz Notes" by Sanford Josephson
The 197 pages of Sanford Josephson’s Jazz Notes: Interviews Across the Generations (Praeger) go quickly when you are reading. Admittedly it is a short book. It consists of twenty principal interviews conducted years ago by the author, then supplementar…
Toots Thielemans’ Harmonica Live with His European Quartet
Everybody knows that Toots Thielemans IS jazz harmonica. He is the man. He phrases like a horn. Others have followed in his wake but he continues to lead the way. If you listen to the late George Shearing’s Quintet in the early 50s, when Toots was the …
