BETTY CARTER, ABBEY LINCOLN, AND LINDA SHARROCK: A JAZZ TRIFECTA

I was sitting in a coffee shop in Baltimore City with experimental artist and founder of the nonprofit TECHNE, Bonnie Jones, listening to her talk about the lack of attention, coverage and general acknowledgement of women in jazz and experimental music. Bonnie who is Korean American and has gracefully surpassed her 20s, calmly expressed that

Review: Angela Morris’ Rallidae – Turned, and Was

Rallidae is a Brooklyn based five-piece ensemble fronted by composer, vocalist and tenor saxophonist Angela Morris. Joining Morris is a crack lineup of players, including vocalist Alex Samaras, Dustin Carlson on guitar, drummer Nico Dann, and Scott Colberg on acoustic bass. Their latest album Turned, And Was finds the band exploring the delicate intersection that

Review: Nicole Mitchell’s Maroon Cloud, Live at National Sawdust, March 29

No matter how many times flutist, composer, and educator Nicole Mitchell plays in New York, it is never enough. As one of the foremost visionaries of creative music today, Prof. Mitchell has already crafted an incredible body of work and received considerable praise. Her work is at once deeply developed, interdisciplinary, and socially relevant, while

Review: Daniel Sarid Trio – Loventuros

Loventuruos is the latest offering from Israeli pianist/composer Daniel Sarid and his dynamic modern trio. Throughout the album Sarid, along with bassist Gilad Abro and drummer Ziv Ravitz maintain a delicate balancing act, reconciling seemingly contradictory musical forces. These compositions and performances are free and exploratory yet lyrical, abstract but dynamic. Opening up with the

Review: Nate Wooley-Dave Rempis Quartet – From Wolves to Whales

Personnel Nate Wooley (trumpet) Dave Rempis (alto saxophone) Pascal Niggenkemper (bass) Chris Corsano (drums) From Wolves to Whales is the result of a collective desire of Nate Wooley and Dave Rempis to form a band which resulted in this grouping with Pascal Niggenkemper and Chris Corsano, all of whom have equally exalted statuses within the

Review: Can Can Heads – Butter Life

Finnish art rock ensemble Can Can Heads have been catching wreck since the early 90s, taking up the noisy, oddly-timed gauntlet thrown down by art-minded Punks like The Ex, Minutemen and Avant-Rock pioneer Captain Beefheart. The reissue of their 2014 album Butter Life finds the veteran band continuing to delve deeply into this aesthetic, each

Review: Dre Hocevar – Transcendental within the Sphere of Indivisible Remainder

Dre Hocevar, has put together a very unique band with Sam Pluta, Aaron Larson Bryan Qu, Mette Rasmussen, Jeremy Corren, Zack Clarke, Lester St. Louis, and Henry Fraser. I am familiar with Mette from seeing her YouTube videos. I had the opportunity to see Henry Fraser through a solo bass performance in the Fire Music

Review: Eivind Opsvik – Overseas V

Bassist/composer Eivind Opsvik began his Overseas project in the early 2000s. It showcases a union of various palates, a figurative way of connecting his musical world that’s genesis began in Oslo and led him to his current residence in New York City.  The lineup for overseas V is a selection of some of the most

Concert Review: 3 Sets at Fire Music at the Legion, May 28

On Sunday, May 28, the eve of the 22nd annual Vision Festival, and within a challenging political climate that has certainly affected all artists, the back room of Williamsburg’s quiet Legion Bar was packed in anticipation of two brass-heavy ad hoc quartets. Fire Music at Legion has been a going concern since last fall, taking

Feminist Jazz Review: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda

One thing I am working on these days, in my personal life and in my writing life is to not be presumptuous. Without admitting that presumption is an overwhelmingly prevalent trait in my personality and work, I believe it is not only important to listen, but to go back and check myself – to go