S. Victor Aaron / August 25, 2010 5:00 am
by Pico There’s been a quiet trend of the last fifteen or so years that seems to be picking up steam lately. That is, to approach jazz from the dreamy and sometimes rough textures of alt rock and electronics. There’s even a name for this: post-rock. Tortoise was one of the first groups to attempt this, and remains one of [...]
Nick DeRiso / March 16, 2010 2:03 pm
by Nick DeRiso You hear Beatles songs remade by jazz musicians with notable frequency, some more successful (Jaco Pastorius‘ glorious reading of the oft-covered “Blackbird” from “Word of Mouth”; a just-right “All My Loving” on “Basie’s Beatles Bag”; Ramsey Lewis‘ underrated “Hard Day’s Night” from “Finest Hour”) than others (almost all of the rest of that un-Fab 1966 Count Basie [...]
Nick DeRiso / April 23, 2009 5:06 am
by Nick DeRiso “Live at Montreux,” which focuses on tunes from Wayne Shorter’s then-new album “High Life,” might have been just another night in a lifetime of concert dates — if not for the former Miles Davis sideman’s still prodigious, almost hypnotic ability on the sax. That, and some bonus cuts from Montreux performances by Shorter in 1991-92, courtesy of [...]
S. Victor Aaron / April 17, 2009 5:00 am
By Pico This installment of Quickies is aimed at introducing to you, Dear Reader, some amazing jazz musicians who may not have shown up on your radar screen yet: Jake Hertzog Chromatosphere Here’s a guitarist who is a 2007 graduate of Berklee, won the Montreaux Jazz Guitar Competition the prior year, came back to the festival the following year and [...]
S. Victor Aaron / February 19, 2009 6:00 am
Getting the word out on some of more esoteric or little-known artists and their albums is something we love doing here at Something Else, hence the name for our little tea room on the interwebs. “Quickies” is where I’ve yakked up a lot of records by musicians who are not rich and famous yet, but in my view, should be…at [...]
S. Victor Aaron / July 1, 2007 5:00 am
by S. Victor Aaron Whether it’s for gigging with Joshua Redman, opening for Steely Dan, sessioning with Norah Jones or forging a new approach to the jazz organ, Sam Yahel deserves your notice. Find out what sets Yahel apart from other Hammond B-3 players and get his insights on why his just-released CD ‘Truth And Beauty’ isn’t just for jazz [...]
Nick DeRiso / June 29, 2007 5:00 am
NICK DERISO: Skid past the first few tracks — an overcooked original, then a couple of snoozers that are just too obvious in their modern cliche — and Dave Kikoski began to live up to his producer’s persistent tips of the hat. That would be Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker, who wrote the liner notes. He stumbled across Kikoski doing [...]
S. Victor Aaron / April 27, 2007 5:00 am
by S. Victor Aaron Guilty pleasures. Admit it, we’ve all got ‘em when it comes to music. For some time, now, I’ve been meaning to put a list together for everyone’s amusement. I was reminded of that half-serious promise I made to myself when I came across Rolling Stone Magazine’s back-handed compliment piece listing 25 “undisputed” guilty pleasure bands. Yeah, [...]
Comments