With a name like Jazz Worms, it has to be good. Right? I didn’t know what to think when I first saw this name, and this album title, after I opened the shipping envelope. There’s some strange jazz offshoots out there, and I get them in for review and secretly I’m thinking WTF but there’s a part of me that’s still grateful to hear something kooky once in a while, like a big band that concentrates on themes from Saturday morning cartoons or piano trio that features an old-fashioned toy piano. Jazz Worms? If you say so. And then I listened to this familiar yet skilled be-bop, the way these guys play jazz like the old legends, the ones who didn’t mind the rough edges. There is a story behind Squirmin’ from the Jazz Worms, and it doesn’t even concern the origin of their name. This is their follow up to their debut album, Crawling Out. That album came out–get this–in 1987. Yes, these guys haven’t recorded together in 34 years. That’s a good story, right? Okay, let’s get it out of the way. The Jazz Worms get their name because the members are pianist Andy Weyl, sax player Keith […]
Tag Archives: jazz quintet
The new album from sax player Jeff Ellwood (website), The Sounds Around the House, is the perfect soundtrack for cold, windy days like this. First of all, it’s not really day music–at least in normal times. This is late night jazz, smoky and languid and full of passion that simply can’t be summoned in direct sunlight. This is what the best jazz club in town sounds like when you first walk into it, real be-bop that exists simultaneously with the present. So why would you listen to Jeff Ellwood and his quartet play this sultry set in the middle of the day in your house? Because it’s the kind of jazz that lifts you without bothering you. Ellwood’s sax plays the kind of melodies that help you put it all together when you’re staring out the window and searching for a new perspective. You can’t go to that club right now, but that saxophone is there for you, narrating whatever thoughts are running through your head. There’ll be a time when we can perform and listen again and it will sound just like this. This is yet another jazz album that sounds so right after just a few notes, respectful […]
Everyone who still clings to the notion that jazz is a “distinctly American art form” isn’t really paying attention to the contemporary jazz scene. So-called Distinctly American jazz isn’t getting the nods and bows it once did simply because there’s a new game in town, one that involves passing through the world and coming out on the other end with new ideas about jazz, and what it can be. Igor Kogan is a bassist-composer-bandleader who has taken a triumvirate of rich cultures from Russia, Israel and New York City and turned it into a lively and sophisticated blend of be-bop. In a Big City is the debut album for Igor Kogan. It’s simply described in the liner notes as nine original compositions for jazz quintet, which suggests nothing out of the ordinary. Extra points are handed out for including Grammy-nominated vocalist Tierney Sutton on “Big City,” the final track–I’ve reviewed her albums before and she’s an intriguing talent in a quintessentially LA way. For me, this album is mostly about New York City, the sounds of jazz filling legendary back alleys and creating sound waves that echo across the fire escapes. I can hear the childhood in Russia, the teen […]