Tagged: modern jazz

Dan Blake’s “Da Fe”

Does righteousness have a sound? Can good intentions be heard in the language of music? Saxophonist/composer Dan Blake’s new recording, Da Fe, attempts an aural answer to those questions, and the results are convincing. A Buddhist, social justice warrior, and former member of the Esperanza Spalding band, Blake’s values are deeply humanist and compassionate; on the...

New Music Menagerie

The Unabashedly Weird: Baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton’s “making bones, taking draughts, bearing unstable millstones pridefully, idiotically, prosaically.” Not your usual trio: drums, cello, and bass clarinet. And not your usual music. Boundary-less, tangential, sly, the music here invites you to find deep meaning in the improvised meanderings, or none at all. The Straight-ahead: Pianist Brad Whiteley’s...

Owen Broder’s “Heritage

The saxophonist and composer Owen Broder has assembled a band of beautiful musicians for his American Roots Project. On their new recording, “Heritage,” the ARP explores blues, bluegrass, folk, and church hymns, filtered through a light jazz scrim. It’s Appalachia meets Manhattan.  The results are lush, piquant  and altogether addictive. ARP’s music on “Heritage” feels comforting and familiar — and...

MOPDTK’s “Mauch Chunk”

Mostly Other People Do the Killing’s latest iteration, a quartet, is led by bassist Mopppa Elliott, whose modern bop compositions are featured on the band’s new album, “Mauch Chunk,” a rollicking, raucous  dash through jazz history that’s firmly in the right now. MOPDTK’s sax man is Jon Irabagon, one the most exciting players in the world....