Ten celebrates the 10th anniversary of Eskelin’s trio with Jim Black (drums) and Andrea Parkins (accordion, sampler, piano) with a variation on the theme: Eskelin re-jigged the band into a series of alter-units by inviting three guests (Marc Ribot, guitar, Melvin Gibbs, electric bass, and Jessica Constable, voice) to participate in the recording.

. . . → Read More: cd/dvd review: 
Ellery Eskelin “Ten” (hatOlogy 611) 
and “On The Road With Andrea Parkins & Jim Black”
 (Prime Source)

This CD is a stellar example of a saxophones-bass-drums trio. The musicianship, the dynamic range of sound, tempo, and creativity is aesthetically satisfying. The playing has a flint-sharp edge that comes from repeated live performances. The trio’s rhythm feel has the elastic quality of jazz swing that just cannot be defined by words; . . . → Read More: “Up Down Down Up”, Coat Cooke Trio Cellarlive 050605

©Laurence Svirchev

Indigo is one of the more beautiful colors that human ingenuity has refined from nature. From ancient times the peoples of western Afrika, China, and Japan succeeded in extracting indigo dye from the plant of the same name. The Yoruba of Nigeria and the Manding of Mali were known to have . . . → Read More: “Indigo Trio – Live in Montréal”, Nicole Mitchell (flutes) – Harrison Bankhead (bass, cello) – Hamid Drake (drums) Greenleaf Music Paperback Series

©Laurence©Ssvirchev.com

The creative leaps representing the discontinuities in jazz are rare, and perhaps too much ado is made of them. Popularized in bursts of enterprising media coverage, these breakpoints seemingly appear out of nowhere. In reality the discontinuities have their own underground developments, and can take years to reach a critical . . . → Read More: Jazz Continuities: Review of Exotica Domestica, Daniele D’Agaro’s Adriatics Orchestra