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Pheeroan AkLaff

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Album Review

Aruán Ortiz: Pastor's Paradox

Read "Pastor's Paradox" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Eccellenti i brani solo strumentali, a tratti un po' verbosi, zavorrati (come accade spesso, del resto) quelli con l'aggiunta di Mtume Gant alla “dizione": si potrebbe sintetizzare così questo album del pianista cubano (ma da oltre vent'anni di stanza negli USA) Aruán Ortiz, ma sarebbe ovviamente eccessivamente semplicistico. Allora diciamo che anche gli episodi con voce aggiunta (tra i quali deve rientrare pure il conclusivo “No Justice, No Peace, Legacy!," dove lo slogan del titolo viene proferito ...

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Album Review

Aruán Ortiz: Pastor's Paradox

Read "Pastor's Paradox" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


When clarinetist and saxophonist Don Byron and pianist Aruán Ortiz teamed up for the recording of Random Dances And (A)Tonalities (Intakt Records, 2018) they brought an unprecedented wealth of stylistic experiences to the studio. The result was an unconventional duo sound that blurred the distinctions between their collective comfort zones. Byron and Ortiz return on the gorgeous Pastor's Paradox, sounding joined at the hip and untethered, simultaneously. In this (mostly) quartet setting, Byron and Ortiz are joined by ...

4
Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations

Read "Fire Illuminations" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Eighty-one year old trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith comes out flaring like Bitches Brew era Miles Davis, as Fire Illuminations jumps the funk rock from the break of the muscular conflagration “Ntozake." And the grunge jazz clips along as guitarists Nels Cline, Brandon Ross, and Lamar Smith vie, bite, sting, and quarrel over an insistent bass drum power-groove courtesy of bassists Bill Laswell and Melvin Gibbs, percussionist Mauro Refosco, drummer Pheeroan aKlaff, and the deep space electronics of Hardedge.

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Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations

Read "Fire Illuminations" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith fronts lots of different bands and puts out lots of albums. After a busy period when he released five boxed sets, totaling 27 CDs, here he debuts his new all-star ensemble Orange Wave Electric, with the download-only offering, Fire Illuminations. As the band name implies, the sound is electric, featuring three electric guitarists, two electric bassists and an electronicist, joining the leader's horn, percussionist Mauro Refosco and drummer Pheeroan aKLaff. For comparison's sake--and using ...

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Album Review

Jay Hoggard: Raise Your Spirit Consciousness

Read "Raise Your Spirit Consciousness" reviewed by La-Faithia White


American jazz vibraphonist and composer Jay Hoggard is raising the spiritual consciousness with songs such as “Holy Spirit Consciousness," “Peace To You My Children," “Worship God in Spirit" and “Truth and Love" on Raise Your Spirit Consciousness Raise Your Spirit Consciousness has eight original compositions from Hoggard as well as recreations of original classics by Wayne Shorter, Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder, and Thad Jones. Hoggard has played with Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton, and Tito Puente, other vibraphonists throughout ...

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Album Review

Michael Gregory Jackson: Frequency Equilibrium Koan

Read "Frequency Equilibrium Koan" reviewed by Troy Dostert


One of the undersung elder statesmen of the jazz avant-garde, guitarist Michael Gregory Jackson played a vital role in the burgeoning loft scene of the 1970s, where his work with Oliver Lake was especially noteworthy. On albums like Lake's Holding Together (Black Saint, 1976) and Zaki (hatOLOGY, 1979), Jackson brought a deep reservoir of influences, not the least of which was a rock/R&B sensibility that he would later develop in more pop-oriented directions during the 1980s and '90s, a shift ...

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Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: America's National Parks

Read "America's National Parks" reviewed by John Sharpe


While the title might conjure up a string of luminous tone poems, the reality of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's magisterial collection goes far beyond that. In fact Smith's notion of a national park encompasses not only the iconic landscapes, but also literary and cultural features. In any case as he explains, he draws his inspiration from the spiritual and psychological dimensions of a specific event or a place, rather than taking a straightforward programmatic approach. The result is Smith's most ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Fire Illuminations

Kabell Records
2023

buy

Pastor's Paradox

Clean Feed Records
2023

buy

Frequency Equilibrium...

Golden Records
2021

buy

America's National...

Cuneiform Records
2016

buy

Pastor's Paradox

From: Pastor's Paradox
By Pheeroan AkLaff

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