Category Archives: Reviews

2 CD Reviews: Two From Innova Rec: The Peter Kerlin Octet And Ayman Fan/Jason Kao Hwang

CD reviews by Matt Cole

Two recent releases from Innova Recordings, the record label of the St. Paul-based American Composers Forum, while having very different lineups (one an octet, the other a duo), provide fine examples of musical patience and communication.

879_coverArtist: Peter Kerlin Octet
Title: Salamander
Label: Innova Rec
Genre: jazz/new music/Collection: chamber, double bass, funk, music for dance & soundtrack

Salamander is the debut album from bassist/composer Peter Kerlin. The five pieces on the roughly 40-minute album are scored for two vibraphones (Sam Sowydra and Cesare Papetti), two basses (Kerlin, joined by Taylor Bergren-Chrisman and Brent Cordero), organ (Emily Manzo), drums and percussion (Mike Pride and Charles Burst), and viola (Amy Cimini, Jessica Pavone, and Karen Waltuch).

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Michael Wimberly (Part One of a Two Part Feature) – A Congress of Masters, Evolving Music Begins with a Notable Performance.

Text by Dawoud Kringle

ap.jpgOn a Monday night, the 6th day of 2014, when New York City was in the midst of a winter filled with strange weather, a congress of NYC’s jazz elite assembled at Clemente Soto Velez Center for a concert marking the beginning of the Evolving Music Series, presented by Arts for Art (organized by Patricia Parker). Michael Wimberly was the curator for the night’s performance.

Michael Wimberly and Charles Gayle began the first set.

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Concert Review: Kosi… does not merely sing; she becomes the song

Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Venue: Silvana (NY)

Review by Dawoud Kringle

Not long ago, I reviewed Kosi Gyebi‘s CD  One More Cup of Coffee. I’d heard her guesting with a jazz band; now I wanted to hear her as a leader live. So, I bundled up, went toe to toe with a nasty cold night, and headed uptown to Silvana.

Photo credit: Adam Olszewski

Photo credit: Adam Olszewski

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Concert Review: Siavash and Kaveh Haghtalab…imagine a garden you’ve never been in before. This music will take your hand, and show you into this garden.

Venue: Cafe Nadery

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2014

Photo courtesy of Cafe Nadery

Photo courtesy of Cafe Nadery

Concert Review by Matt Cole

On Saturday, the 4th of January, I went down to Cafe Nadery in the West Village to hear some Persian classical music, played by the brothers Siavash and Kaveh Haghtalab. Cafe Nadery is named for an establishment in Tehran which, in the ’40s and ’50s, was one of the spots at which intellectuals gathered. The version in New York is a long, narrow room, with many pictures of notable Iranian writers and thinkers on the walls, and a bookshelf located behind where the musicians were to play, filled with a variety of titles, including books on Iran, chess, film noir, and a large selection in Farsi.

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