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Kenny Wollesen

Drummer Kenny Wolleson performed on over 30 recordings during the 1990s and, as the decade progressed, gained increasing renown as a musician of astonishing versatility, skill, and ingenuity. He has recorded and toured with all kinds of musicians, from Tom Waits (Wolleson performs on Waits' 1993 collaboration with William S. Burroughs, Black Rider), to Sean Lennon, to Ron Sexsmith (Wolleson performs on his second album, Other Songs).

A founding member of the New Klezmer Trio, Wollesen is also all over N.Y.C.'s downtown jazz and avant-garde musicians' recordings, and has been so active as to tour with Bill Frisell and Myra Melford in the same month. �" Joslyn Layne Source: All Music Guide

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Album Review

Sylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera

Read "Chimaera" reviewed by Troy Dostert


It says something about pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's current profile in creative jazz that she could assemble such a distinguished ensemble for her latest release, Chimaera. Augmenting her usual trio of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen are trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Nate Wooley, and with the always interesting Christian Fennesz completing the group on guitar and electronics, one would expect extraordinary results. And so they are--worthy of a lengthy, two-CD treatment, in fact. Courvoisier's work with ...

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Album Review

John Zorn: Gnosis: The Inner Light

Read "Gnosis: The Inner Light" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski


John Zorn's album Gnosis: The Inner Light serves as a poignant memorial and homage to the creative genius of one of modern music's most visionary composers, Ennio Morricone, who played a vital role in shaping Zorn's musical path. Decades ago, Zorn captivated audiences with The Big Gundown (Nonesuch, 1986), a groundbreaking release that boldly reimagined Morricone's compositions. Now, with Gnosis: The Inner Light, Zorn once again pays tribute to the maestro's enduring influence, delving into mystical realms and creating a ...

4
Album Review

Steph Richards: Supersense

Read "Supersense" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


With all the threatening weirdness and desperate surrealism that has become life in the USA, it makes absolute sense that Supersense, daring trumpeter/composer Steph Richards' third full length album, starts out like an encroaching invasion of ants, or microbes, or a disruptive, divisive, myopic political movement. As with such forward seeking rebels as Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson and Yoko Ono, Richards' modus operandi is chiseled in the very foundations of the music itself. Never ...

12
Album Review

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio: Free Hoops

Read "Free Hoops" reviewed by Troy Dostert


With her idiosyncratic mixture of mystery and mirth, and a seamless conjoining of jazz and classical musical vocabularies, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier has carved an enviable niche for herself. She not only possesses impeccable technique, but her voice as a composer is just as formidable, whether in partnerships with fellow mavericks like Mary Halvorson, Evan Parker, or Mark Feldman, or in her blue-chip trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Their D'Agala (Intakt) was a widely hailed highlight of ...

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Album Review

Mark Murphy, Folk Artist: Hiding Place

Read "Hiding Place" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Mark Murphy's 2018 release Pocketful of Rainbows (Self Produced, 2018) was a surprise stand-out recording that year. Now, this Mark Murphy is not that Mark Murphy (1932 -2015), icon of jazz vocals. This Mark Murphy is a singer/songwriter whose 2016 release, Slip Away (Mini Movie) scored points for one of Downbeat Magazine's recordings of that year. Murphy returns with Hiding Place, a slim collection of seven songs, originals mixed with imaginative covers, in keeping with his previous offerings.

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Album Review

Bill Frisell: Unspeakable

Read "Unspeakable" reviewed by John Kelman


Some artists spend an entire lifetime within a narrow genre, honing their skill and working at stretching the boundaries of that style, while others transcend all definitions and labels, creating a music that defies categorization. Such is the case with guitarist Bill Frisell, who over a twenty-five year career has contributed to everything from the Nordic cool of Jan Garbarek's quartet to the downtown edge of John Zorn's Naked City. On his own records he has explored diverse landscapes including ...

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Album Review

Dmitri Matheny: Penumbra (The Moon Sessions)

Read "Penumbra (The Moon Sessions)" reviewed by Jim Santella


Dmitri Matheny and Dave Ellis are tight. Their flugelhorn and tenor saxophone complement each other well, providing harmony, added color, and tonal variety. With a theme album that refers to the majestic beauty of the moon's presence in the sky that we all experience -- a common bond around the world -- the leader offers a set of beautiful and interesting pieces. The title track is a slow ballad and a feature for John ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

RETRO Trilogy

Allegato Music
2023

buy

Chimaera

Intakt Records
2023

buy

Another Way Home

Roots2Boot
2020

buy

Hiding Place

Mini Movie Records
2020

buy

Free Hoops

Intakt Records
2020

buy

Tropicalia

From: RETRO Trilogy
By Kenny Wollesen

The Wind

From: RETRO Trilogy
By Kenny Wollesen

Supersense

From: Supersense
By Kenny Wollesen

Lonely Hearts

From: Another Way Home
By Kenny Wollesen

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