Ambient Jazz - CD Reviews (71)
James Taylor once sang, "The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time/Any fool can do it/There ain't nothin' to it..." Well, for pianist Richard Kimball, the secret of life, as exhibited on his unaccompanied solo release, The Art of Aging, is to push forward with a bright resolve,…
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With such a geographically visual image for an album title, vibraphonist Tim Collins leads his quartet through six original compositions and two covers where one's mental imagery can conjure various sublime locations through the tonal colors that this ensemble strives for and attains. Collins' quartet – pianist Danny Grissett, bassist…
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The scrolling notes of pianist of Yelena Echemoff embroider imagery soundscapes that soothe, excite and entrap the listener in an experience beyond earthly dimensions. Her latest album Flying Steps features Peter Erskine on drums and Darek Oleszkiewicz on double bass, and establishes Echemoff as an engaging pianist and composer of…
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Multi-instrumentalist, engineer and producer Joe Blassett's Chillin' Out In Dark Places is a difficult recording to categorize. While it has nice subtle rhythmic grooves in the background of every track, the material placed on top of the smooth waves is multihued, angled, and at times quite disjunct. The layering…
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Fjordne (given name, Shunichiro Fujimoto) produces music that is adventurous, expansive and a bit other-worldly, yet highly listenable and absorbing. His approach is to feature the piano as the melodic centerpiece and have electronic sounds create various moods around it. The effects change from track to track, but are sometimes…
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Rarely does an ensemble come along that has its own vision, one that is rooted in the music the members heard around them and grew up with, yet is still original in conception. That is truly the case with the Montalban Quintet. One of the first to incorporate indie music…
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EEA is constructed of three members from the Program for Improvisational Music at the University of Nevada-Reno. Saxophonist Peter Epstein earned his Bachelor’s degree a…
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That all of the great European jazz music being made today solely resides at ECM Records would be as foolish a thought as thinking that smooth jazz artists, by following…
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The forward-looking sextet Knu Gmoon is lead by New Jersey native and bassist Noah Jarrett. His eclectic musical background finds great summation in his compositions and…
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Have you ever wondered what the colors of the rainbow would sound like if they could sing? It is pretty much what guitarist Lawrence Blatt has done on his latest recordi…
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Trumpeter/composer Jon Hassell has worked with innovators Brian Eno and La Monte Young, along with immersing himself in the traditional musics of Africa and Asia. The re…
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That there are still musical surprises left in the world is a wonderful thing. Who would have guessed Elton John performing with Lady Gaga or Elton John performing with …
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Following in the footsteps of Jacques Loussier, Knudsen and his mates Daniel Olsson and Fredrik Nilsson take selected pieces from the French impressionists and use them as …
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Sam Barsh draws from an eclectic group of influences to form his own distinctive blend of jazz, with touches of ambient music and rhythm and blues in the sapient mix. Hi…
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On their eponymous debut disc, the Italian duo Bespoken artfully straddles the worlds of ambient music and free improvisation. Though I am not familiar with either of the m…
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New York born, but Denmark raised percussionist Marilyn Mazur sealed her spot in history during her four plus years of work in both the studio and on tour with Miles Dav…
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Highly acclaimed new urban jazz keyboardist Bob Baldwin has recently released a DVD entitled Memoirs From The Hudson on NuGroove Records. The DVD features footage…
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This is one of those records that is classified by its unclassifiable nature. The Dinosaurus Records website throws out a few suggestions such as "jazztronica," "chillou…
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Zim Ngqawana is a world musician proficient on brass, keyboards and woodwind instruments in addition to being a penetrating vocalist. Born in Port Elizabeth along South …
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Hearing David Chenu’s album Two is like listening to someone finally telling the truth. It’s dark, stark and magnetic. This is not what you would label "happy" …
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