Author Archives: Neil Tesser

It’s been five years since local polymath bassist and composer Tatsu Aoki premiered his large-scale composition Rooted: Origins of Now at several Chicago concerts, which were followed up by a Southport Records CD of the same title–enough time for Aoki to revisit the work’s themes of cultural inheritance, alienation, and synthesis. The title of his […]

What is it about the Hammond B-3 that inspires wunderkinder? Joey DeFrancesco was famous in Philadelphia before he hit high school; a comparative late bloomer, Chicago native Wil Blades started playing drums at eight and switched to organ in his late teens, carving a niche for himself almost from the moment he arrived in San […]

Chicago Heights native Johnny Pate turned 80 in 2003, and the concert celebrating that milestone–documented on a two-CD set released in 2004 on the TNC label–tells the story of his career through the artists who took part in it. The guest list included vocalist Shirley Horn, bassist Ron Carter, pianist Monty Alexander, guitarist Kenny Burrell, […]

Anyone who’s heard Paquito D’Rivera even once knows about his explosive virtuosity: on both clarinet and alto sax the Cuban emigre boasts consummate technique, infused with the jumpy, mercurial fervor that defines so much Cuban jazz. Folks who’ve heard him a few times know about his lively and endearing sense of humor–a trait that also […]

Rufus Reid’s playing epitomizes the conflicting faces the bass has presented to modern jazz. Ever since Oscar Pettiford and Ray Brown developed the technique that made the instrument a solo vehicle, it’s been torn between its traditional place as a rhythmic anchor and a spot in the front line. In the 70s, after graduating from […]

Jazz vocalist Ilona Knopfler throws together an odd assortment of ingredients on the opening track of her 2005 album, Live the Life (Mack Avenue). “I’m Going to Live the Life I Sing About in My Song,” is a hymn written by gospel pioneer Thomas A. Dorsey, but instead of the church choir you might expect, […]

It’s not hard to find a horn man or percussionist who plays piano passably: many learned it first, and many more use it as an aid when writing music (a degree of expertise known as “composer’s piano”). But rarely do you encounter one with such command of the instrument that he could make it his […]

Last year’s Solo Voyage (MaxJazz), the most recent release from pianist Denny Zeitlin, is a solo disc and a significant departure from what he’ll present at Jazz Showcase with his long-running trio, but the differences help reveal the sweep of his talent and restless imagination. The trio format has defined almost all the music that […]

It’s surprising enough that pianist Amina Figarova–a woman born in the mostly Muslim nation of Azerbaijan–would gravitate to American jazz, let alone develop such a centered, compact style of improvisation. On a series of discs going back more than a decade, she neatly twines the influences of Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, but even so, […]