Category Archives: Reviews

The Residents will never die, they are what they were!!!!!

Date: March 31, 2011
Venue: Highline Ballroom (NY)

Concert review by Jim Hoey

The Residents still baffle and riddle their audience with questions of identity: Who are these freaks? Where did they come from? How do they turn out such twisted songs? What their fans DO know for sure is that they’ve been around almost as long as the Rolling Stones or Black Sabbath, have put out over 60 albums, and they came out of some swamp or dark lair of Louisiana, before heading to San Fran in the late 60’s. The rest is just hearsay. Although they did release Meet The Residents in 1972, (a parody of Meet the Beatles more in line with Zappa or Captain Beefheart), since that time they have been popping up in different incarnations, with consistently demanding and challenging punk, gothic, and noise releases over the past 3 decades.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Continue reading →

Salieu Suso: a serious practitioner of an art that dates back to the earliest days of the Malian empire.

Concert review by Augusta Palmer

Every Friday night between 8 and 11 in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, you can be part of a musical tradition that’s almost 1000 years old. That’s the time that Sulieu Suso plays kora every week at Le Grand Dakar, Chef Pierre Thiam’s elegant restaurant.

A native of Senegambia, Mr. Suso has been playing the kora, an instrument made from a hollow gourd fitted with a rosewood neck and with 21 strings, since he began studying with his father at age 8. Sulieu Suso is a descendent of JaliMady Walyn Suso, who is often credited with inventing the instrument, and he’s a serious practitioner of an art that dates back to the earliest days of the Malian empire.

There are few instruments that instill a sense of uplift and peace like the kora, and Mr. Suso plays it masterfully. I’d heard him play twice recently with Randy Weston, and was delighted to hear that he has a regular weekly solo gig just a few blocks from my house.

Continue reading →

CD reviews: The Brian Landrus Quartet (US) vs. Sweetback (France)

CD reviews by William Harvey

Artist: The Brian Landrus Quartet
Title:Traverse
Label: Blueland Records
Genre: Jazz

Brian Landrus’s latest studio recording, Traverse, displays his talents as a bandleader, composer, and improviser on both baritone sax and bass clarinet. For this project Landrus assembled an all star band including Billy Hart on drums, Michael Cain on piano, and Lonnie Plaxico on bass. The album consists of one standard and seven originals, three of which were co-written with Cain. Each composition has it’s own distinct character yet fit well together in the context of the album as a whole. Landrus’s melodies and solos are fresh, lyrical, and without clichés.
Like many great jazz quartet leaders before him, Landrus often steps back and lets his rhythm section groove and react to the music that has happened or set a mood for the coming melody and solo of the leader. Landrus displays a great level of musical maturity in his use of space, a quality rarely found in a saxophonist as technically gifted as he is. Although he is playing bari and bass clarinet, Landrus is clearly influenced by great tenor players such a Charles Lloyd or Joe Henderson, most apparent in his sense of phrasing and warm tone in addition to interactive playing with his quartet.

Overall the album is tastefully balanced. Most of the tracks are under five minutes long with nice variation of tempos and styles between them. Landrus even knows when not to use the band. On one track “Soul and Body,” he stands alone playing a heartfelt solo improvisation which functions as an intro to the standard “Body and Soul”, in which the band rejoins. Also, on “Lone” and “Soundwave”, Michael Cain proves to be a most ideal accompanist for Landrus in two intimate duets. Sonically the mix and production quality are top notch as no corners were cut to make this album sound as clear as any jazz album in its category. In 2011 Traverse will surely hold it’s own in the midst of notable modern jazz albums.

Continue reading →

Tirtha – a phenomenal trio featuring three powerhouse musicians performing NU INDIAN JAZZ!

Date: Saturday, April 2, 2011
Venue: Asia Society

Reviewed by William Harvey

On April 2nd, 2011, Tirtha performed at the Asia Society in Manhattan to promote the release of their new self titled album, Tirtha. The trio consists of Indian musicians including American born pianist- composer Vijay Iyer, guitarist-composer Prasanna from South India, and classically trained tabla player Nitin Mitta, also Indian born. The performance, which was to precede an intense two-week tour of Europe, was enthusiastically received by a full house of concertgoers.

 

Continue reading →