Category Archives: Reviews

CD Reviews: NoReduce and the Nils Wogram Septet from Switzerland

Text by Matt Cole

New from the nWog label are two releases which show the vitality and creativity which can be found the European jazz scene. NoReduce’s debut CD, Jaywalkin’, which features three young Swiss jazz musicians and drummer extraordinaire Nasheet Waits was released on 18 May 2012, and the Nils Wogram Septet’s Complete Soul, out on 24 August.

Artist: NoReduce
Title: Jaywalkin’
Label: nWog Records
Genre: jazz

NoReduce’s lineup consists of Raffaele Bossard on bass, Dave Gisler on guitar, and  Christoph Irniger on saxophone in addition to drummer Nasheet Waits, and the album presents songs that came into existence in the spring of 2011 in New York, while the Swiss contingent of the band was living there.

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Concert review: Bill Frisell Plays The Music of John Lennon at La Poisson Rouge

Date: Thursday, 2 August 2012
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge (NY)
Review by Matt Cole and photos by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

On Thursday, 2 August 2012, Bill Frisell and his talented band played an evening of John Lennon’s music before a packed, seated house at La Poisson Rouge. The band consisted of Jenny Scheinman on violin, Greg Leisz on pedal steel, Tony Scherr on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums. The band played selections from Frisell’s 2011 album, All We Are Saying, a collection of John Lennon’s songs played by the same band we were hearing live.

The music began with Frisell alone, then the rest of the band coming in one-by-one, in a dreamy jam that coalesced into “Across the Universe.” After an almost Beatlesesque treatment of the melody (helped along by Kenny Wollesen’s excellent and tasteful drumming in this idiom, which continued throughout the night), the band went back into free and dreamy territory. This pattern would continue for most of the night, with most songs starting free, and then alternating between Beatles-like sounds and free but not dissonant improve sections. A few times, no doubt aided by the sounds of Leisz’ pedal steel, the band entered the edges of country-rock territory, one example being on Lennon’s ode to his son, “Beautiful Boy,” another in “In My Life” towards the end of the set (the psychedelic ending of which, curiously, also reminded me a little of the intro to Rush’s epic “Xanadu”).

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Concert review: Melvin Gibbs’ Elevated Entity explores “the Black Atlantic continuum”

Date: July 25, 2012
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge (NY)
Review by Eulas Pizarro

Melvin Gibbs Elevated Entity at Le Poisson Rouge was nothing short of amazing. As I got there a few minutes late and entered the room the band was already laying down a seething web of polyrhythms and tangled vocal call and responses enveloping the audience.

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CD recommendation: Togo’s Fela Kuti speaks out for the 2nd time with music jumping “Between 2 Worlds”!

Artist: Elikeh
Titel: 2 Worlds
Label: Azalea City Recordings
Genre: Afro Beat or “taking Fela Kuti and mixing him with Bob Marley. Put in a pot and stir for three minutes and add some Osibisa and Togolese traditional music to it and let it all boil for two more minutes,” Dogo laughs. “Then you add a sprinkle of rock and you have Elikeh. ” (by Massama Dogo)
Release date: August 23, 2012

Elikeh mixes Afro-beat with traditional Togolese polyrhythms to produce captivating tunes that are as listenable as they are danceable. Although based in indigenous traditions, Elikeh’s music has no borders, exploring global themes and personal odysseys.

The eight-member group knows how to get the fire burning. They channel that energy into funkified pop anthems and thoughtful critiques of corruption, ignorance, and cultural neglect. Now on Between 2 Worlds the group digs deep into the African vintage pop inspiration, the reggae vibes, and the current craze for African-inflected funk and blues on an album that easily straddles two continents.

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Event review: 2012 Istanbulive 4 brought Turkish music and culture back to NY again.

Date: July 29, 2012
Venue: Damrosh Park Bandshell/Lincoln Center

Review by Jim Hoey

For the fourth year in a row a hardworking Turkish group of promoters and musicians have succeeded in bringing the sounds of their country right here to NYC where a large group of Turkish emigres are eager to hear music from home, and locals can hear something exotic and new. In past years, it’s happened at Central Park SummerStage, but this year they moved it to Lincoln Center’s 62nd street bandshell space. Despite a raging thunderstorm just hours before the start time, with bolts of lightning ripping through the darkened skies, the 3 groups on the bill from Turkey were able to take the stage after the storm died down when it was safe for the musicians to play.

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