Both Venezuelan pianist/composer Edward Simon and Hungarian-American singer/songwriter Zoltán Székely combine different musical influences into a unique voice, but with very different results. Continue reading
Tag Archives: mel minter
Hersch and Vloeimans (Yes, Again, and with Good Reason)
I had been hesitant to review these two albums—Live in Europe from the Fred Hersch Trio and Eric & Will from Eric Vloeimans and Will Holshouser—because both Hersch and Vloeimans have been featured on this site numerous times in recent months. However, after giving both a close listen, I think it would be a disservice to you, gentle reader, not to alert you to these remarkable recordings. Continue reading
New to Me
Marike van Dijk. Photo by Kees Muizelaar.
Adrean Farrugia and Joel Frahm
Two new releases introduced me to several musicians I had not previously encountered and whose acquaintance I am happy to have made. On The Stereography Project, Vol. 2,* Dutch saxophonist and arranger Marike van Dijk presents the songs and voices of singer/songwriters Jeff Taylor and Katell Keineg in gorgeous arrangements for two pop chamber orchestras. On Blued Dharma,* pianist Adrean Farrugia and saxophonist Joel Frahm, new to me as leaders, offer an accessible and satisfying lesson on jazz duo performance. Continue reading
Bass Clarinetist Todd Marcus Offers a Stirring Portrait of the Streets
Todd Marcus
Todd Marcus
On These Streets (Stricker Street Records)
A review
For the past 20 years, bass clarinetist Todd Marcus, voted a Rising Star in Downbeat magazine’s Annual Critics Poll, has lived and worked in west Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood at the community-based nonprofit Intersections of Change, alongside Reverends Elder C.W. and Amelia Harris. Together, through a variety of “programs that enrich the economic, social, and spiritual lives of those dealing with poverty-related issues,” they’ve helped transform blighted inner-city streets, abandoned buildings, and vacant lots into a once-again vibrant neighborhood.
Galvanized by the unrest following the death of neighborhood resident Freddie Gray while in police custody in 2015, Marcus undertook a musical portrait of Sandtown-Winchester. On These Streets (a Baltimore story)* offers a look at the neighborhood’s gilded past, its recent challenges, and its determined hope for the future. Five of the eight related tracks are preceded by commentary from neighborhood residents, and one is introduced by the sounds of police helicopters and radio. (A ninth track celebrates Marcus’s native New Jersey.) Continue reading
Dafnis Prieto Goes Large
Dafnis Prieto Big Band (L to R). Front row: Roberto Quintero, Josh Deutsch, Román Filiú, Dafnis Prieto, Peter Apfelbaum, Ricky Rodríguez. Middle row: Michael Thomas, Tim Albright, Jeff Nelson, Manuel Valera, Mike Rodríguez, Alex Sipiagin. Back row: Nathan Eklund, Alan Ferber, Chris Cheek, Joel Frahm, Jacob Garchik.
Since his arrival in New York from Cuba in 1999, drummer/composer/bandleader Dafnis Prieto has proven himself an adventurous musician in a variety of settings—trio, quartet, sextet—with a healthy disregard for genre. His latest release, Back to the Sunset,* is his most ambitious to date.
Prieto will bring his Sí o Sí Quartet, with Peter Apfelbaum on saxophones, Alex Brown on piano, and Ricky Rodriguez on bass, to the Outpost this Sunday, April 29. Go here for details. Continue reading