Pat Metheny 2017

Jazz aficionados are often concerned with lineages within the music and the passing of the torch. There aren’t many musicians left who have witnessed and assisted in the development of jazz and improvised music as much as saxophonist Lee Konitz has. From the height of bebop to the current avant-garde, Konitz has established himself as a cornerstone and link between many adventurous musicians. Two such musicians are vocalist extraordinaire Judy Niemack and the exceptional pianist Dan Tepfer. Both have been fortunate enough to play and collaborate with the legendary saxophonist. It was only natural that Niemack and Tepfer would find such a rapport when they finally met via Konitz. It took the duo no time to be at ease with each other and to pursue a lively recording, entitled Listening To You.

Based in the Sunshine State, Jazz pianist Mike Levine has developed a reputation as a solid player, producer, and composer on the Miami scene. With a career that stretches back to the early 80’s, the University of Miami alumnus made his record debut in 1981 as co-leader of The Ross-Levine Band, a project upon which Pat Metheny was a guest artist. The effort drew national attention and remained in the top ten of the AC-Jazz Chart for six weeks. The subsequent effort also faired well and paved the band’s way as an opening act for such highly regarded performers as Michael Franks, Gato Barbieri, and Dionne Warwick.

On the heels of his acclaimed 2016 recording, Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny and his 2014 collaboration with electro-acoustic pianist-composer and Director of the School of Music at the University of Washington Richard Karpen on their Ellington-Strayhorn tribute That The Days Go By And Never Come Again, trumpeter-composer Cuong Vu joins forces with guest guitarist Bill Frisell on Ballet, a tribute to renowned composer-arranger Michael Gibbs.

Vienna, Rome, Seoul… Iiro Rantala and Ulf Wakenius are musicians who travel the world, always on tour as leaders of their own projects. So it was something of a fluke that this duo was able to come into existence at all. The idea first emerged in October 2015, when Rantala and Wakenius stopped off at the Philharmonie in Berlin. Siggi Loch, curator of the “Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic” concert series, had brought them together on stage for the “Tears for Esbjörn” concert. “We were part of a larger ensemble on that occasion”, Rantala remembers, “but it was clear to both of us straight away that we would want to form a duo.” This has to be seen as a very smart move, given the rarity of the piano-guitar duo in jazz – a fine exception being that of Brad Mehldau with Pat Metheny.

It's good that guitarist Reggie Young is Forever Young, as he waited until he was almost eighty years old to record the album of that name, the first as leader of his own group(s) after six decades of backing innumerable pop stars including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Dusty Springfield and Willie Nelson. While Young shows he can still play a mean guitar, he has brought along some baggage, namely the sort of pop-rock frame of mind on which he built his undeniably successful career.

The Nordic Christmas has nothing to do with pomp and kitsch, abundance and great gestures. She is family and traditional, draws her power from silence. Contemplation and concentration determines the most beautiful time of the year in the Scandinavian countries. And their music is a reflection of this quiet and intimate mood: whoever has fallen for the special musical charm of Scandinavian Christmas can now celebrate "Nordic Christmas" with Tore Brunborg and Kjetil Bjerkestrand. Not in a big cast, but in the unusual and intimate duo of saxophone and church organ. Almost magically, Tore Brunborg's unmistakably warm tone and Kjetil Bjerkestrands merge just as singular organ sounds, which use all the stops.

An unfortunate reality for too many musicians—even those who are well-known—is that most of their audiences are aware of but a portion of their true work…their fullest capabilities. Recordings only tell part of the story, since artists often tour with groups that are never documented. And even those tours, for those fortunate enough to experience them, are often limited-run engagements—perhaps a few weeks in Europe here, a short tour of Japan there. Even in North America, given the vast distances that have become increasingly untenable with transportation costs, only those on one coast or the other, for example, might get the chance to catch a particular lineup and repertoire.

Violinist Dave Kline is pushing the contemporary voice of strings to new heights, while maintaining a sophisticated yet approachable city sound. Kline's original compositions are intricate and push the violin as a lead instrument in an ensemble setting, assertively bending the borders of undiscovered territory with great result. This idea led to his new album entitled Shifting Borders. While this refers to the musical twists, turns and combinations, it also captures Kline's personal journey across the globe, and encompasses his musical view of our world.

A constellation of star names shoot into view, new in April, from Antonio Faraò who is touring this spring with Jazz Messengers legend Benny Golson. Quite a procession into and out of the studio on a dozen of the Italian pianist’s extrovert compositions and arrangements, the styles straddling jazz-rock fusion, funk, smooth jazz, R&B and hip-hop, guests including Marcus Miller, Snoop Dogg, Manu Katché and Didier Lockwood. A spacey showbizzy start to the whole shebang hovers into view right at the beginning featuring a peculiar kind of movie trailer curtain raiser. Skipping on rapidly to ‘Line’ featuring rapper Krayzie Bone (Anthony Henderson to his mum) for a lively bit of cussin’ and no holding back, the high energy radiating outwards a case of harmless entertainment no more no less, Faraò surfacing to fly somehow like Herbie Hancock back in his ‘lost’ 1980s period. Be afraid, be very afraid.