Music and Recording Features

The Wind Cries Marty (Krystall)

Sasha Matson Nov 05, 2020 First Published: Nov 05, 2020

Marty Krystall is a musician's musician, highly regarded and known to his peers in the LA music world as a triple-threat wind player equally adept at jazz, classical, and in the studio. He is also an audiophile, a recording engineer, and a record company owner, having created the K2B2 label with bassist and colleague Buell Neidlinger in 1979.

Music and Recording Features Revinylized!

Revinylization #11: James Booker, Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Joan Armatrading

Jim Austin Oct 21, 2020 First Published: Oct 21, 2020

Last month, I received so few vinyl reissues that I had to invite a guest writerjazz critic and political commentator Fred Kaplanto fill in. Fred had managed to grab an early copy of the excellent Analogue Productions 45rpm reissue of Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival. I didn't get mine until a week or so after his review was submitted.

This month, I have a tall stack to choose from, so I'll mention several.

Interviews Music and Recording Features

Maria Schneider: Is There Anybody Out There?

Ken Micallef Oct 08, 2020 First Published: Oct 08, 2020

"The data lords are gathering data and giving it to organizations that then manipulate us with the things they know about us, things that we don't even know about ourselves," says five-time Grammy Awardwinning composer, conductor, producer, and band leader Maria Schneider. "They give our data to any company that'll pay for it to manipulate you, specifically targeting your vulnerabilities. It takes away freedom of thought, a true discourse where people are thinking for themselves. Count me out."

Music and Recording Features Revinylized!

Revinylization #10: Bill Evans's Live at Montreux

Fred Kaplan Sep 22, 2020 First Published: Sep 22, 2020

The late pianist Bill Evans may be the most reissued jazz musician in the catalogs of audiophile record labels. There are reasons for that: He played standards, mainly ballads (many audiophiles shun the avantgarde), almost never in groups larger than trios (stereo systems often do best with small-scale ensembles). Whether by design or chance, his best recordings were miked by superb engineers. Perhaps because of that, proprietors of high-end labels have cherished Evans's music with heightened passion.

Music and Recording Features

Rudresh Mahanthappa: The Time Is Now

Thomas Conrad Sep 04, 2020 First Published: Sep 04, 2020

An outburst of saxophone flurries sits you straight up in your chair. The tone is rich but with a cutting edge.

It has to be Rudresh Mahanthappa. The riveting cry of his alto saxophone is one of the most recognizable sounds in jazz.

But those darting runs coalesce into Charlie Parker's "Red Cross." So it can't be Mahanthappa, can it? He has made 15 straight albums of original music. He doesn't do covers, right?

Interviews Music and Recording Features

James Taylor: an American Standard

Ken Micallef Aug 05, 2020 First Published: Aug 05, 2020

On iconic singer-songwriter James Taylor's 20th album, American Standard, the lanky crooner adapts the classic American songbook to his easy-rolling musical ways. The result is an American mixture of timeless songcraft.

Where some popular singers use the songbook canon to increase record and ticket sales, Taylor has no need to change himself or increase his audience. He's as comfortable as any man can be, having sold many millions of records the world over for almost 50 years.

Music and Recording Features My Back Pages

Terry Riley: Get What You Need

Jason Victor Serinus Jul 29, 2020 First Published: Jul 29, 2020

For two months, I'd been planning to attend Terry Riley's appearance at Seattle's 536-seat Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. For two weeks, I'd been planning to watch a presidential-candidate debate on television. Only one problem: As it turned out, the two events were scheduled for the same night. Even after a decade of trying to master the muddle known as multitasking, it was impossible to do both.

Music and Recording Features

Sheltering In Place In New Orleans

John Swenson Jun 30, 2020 First Published: Jun 30, 2020

New Orleans, Louisiana  As I write this, my city is locked down. To make sure of it, the National Guard is encamped in Louis Armstrong Park, site of Congo Square, where in former times enslaved Americans gathered to dance and play music, and tourists gathered to watch them. People still gather there when the city is not locked down; they gather at other places, too. No one's gathering now.

Interviews Music and Recording Features

Michael League: That's One Snarky Puppy

Sasha Matson May 28, 2020 First Published: May 28, 2020

"What happens in college stays in college" might be the best policy for most undergrad-formed bands, but Snarky Puppy is an exception to that rule (and a number of others). Bassist/composer Michael League found fertile musical ground in the jazz studies program at the University of North Texas when he formed Snarky Puppy in 2003.

Music and Recording Features

Jim Campilongo: Telecaster Master & Audio Enthusiast

Ken Micallef May 08, 2020 First Published: May 08, 2020

In a 2014 profile in the New Yorker, Paul Elie, author of the book Reinventing Bach, wrote, "There it was again: the stinging treble, the spooky overtones, the strings snapping and booming under his handsthe sound of a Tele being played as skillfully and exuberantly as it can be played."

The musician in question was Jim Campilongo . . .