The Bad Plus has almost exclusively performed as a trio for its nearly 20-year existence. Guests occasionally join the band in concert, but only one of their previous 10 discs has included a fourth member. In 2011, bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King invited saxophonist Joshua Redman to join them for …
Category: KCCK Blog
New Music Monday for June 15, 2015
There are certain venues that become a home away from home for many musicians. Places where the vibe is right, the crowd is always involved and management is friendly. The Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, California is one of these places and the favorite venue of pianist Benny Green. Returning to the site where …
New Music Monday for June 8, 2015
Vibraphonist Joe Locke’s new recording, “Love is a Pendulum,” is just over an hour in length, but has taken a lifetime to make, as it encompasses all of Locke’s joys and sorrows, and utilizes all of his slings and arrows. It’s an arresting collection of all original music, the centerpiece of which is a five-movement …
New Music Monday for June 1, 2015
The title of “Old Friends and New Friends,” the latest release from award-winning pianist/composer David Berkman, refers specifically to the exceptional sextet that he assembled for the recording. The band joins two members of Berkman’s recently formed quartet—saxophonist Dayna Stephens and bassist Linda Oh—with three renowned musicians who can definitely be considered old friends: drummer …
New Music Monday for May 25, 2015
Musicians always strive to capture the spirit and energy of a live performance in the recording studio—a formidable challenge with the mirror of the live audience. With “Night and Day,” the brilliant alto saxophonist Vincent Herring achieves this elusive goal unequivocally. Renowned for his soulful and powerfully expressive playing, Herring is joined on the front …
New Music Monday for May 18, 2015
Through a series of critically acclaimed releases over the past decade, saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa has explored the music of his South Indian heritage and translated it through the vocabulary of his own distinctive approach to modern jazz. On his latest release, “Bird Calls,” Mahanthappa trains his anthropological imagination on an equally important cultural …
New Music Monday for May 11, 2015
Revered by The Washington Post as “successfully translating the musical pulse of his era into jazz,” acclaimed bassist Ben Williams delivers his sophomore release, “Coming of Age.” Continuing to implore the common elements of jazz, hip-hop, rock and soul, the young bandleader embarks on a bolder journey on this CD with more music by his own …
New Music Monday for May 4, 2015
Recorded at the Tin Angel in the Old City section of Philadelphia in the mid-‘90s, “Nexus” represents a rare look a jazz guitar masterPat Martino in the stripped-down setting of duos with one of his most emphatic partners to date, pianist Jim Ridl. Martino’s signature sound is instantly revealed in these intimate recordings with Ridl, …