The Free Jazz Collective gives Riverside ****½ Stars!
By Paul Acquaro
The musical legacy of woodwind player and composer Jimmy Giuffre is one that is deeply intertwined with many of the recordings that are reviewed here on the Free Jazz Blog. Giuffre's album Free Fall from 1962 with bassist Steve Swallow and pianist Paul Bley is often regarded as a seminal moment in the development of free jazz, introducing a subtle chamber music approach to free improvisation. However, in the years leading up to this watershed recording, Giuffre had a trio with guitarist Jim Hall and Ralph Pena that approached jazz with deference to deep American folk and country roots.
So, why all this talk about Giuffre's music? Because trumpeter and composer David Douglas has put together a group that uses Giuffre's earlier music as a jumping off point into an exciting pool of folk and blues inspired tunes that are as unabashedly fun as they are cleverly composed.
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Preorder your copy of Riverside now!
Marlbank gives Riverside a **** Star RECOMMENDED Review
This is a bit different. It feels like a lost world, music that’s been hidden away for too long. Slightly quirky, certainly jaunty, Douglas tune ‘Thrush’ opens proceedings. The trumpeter co-leads the band with Montreal-born reeds player Chet Doxas, the pair teaming with electric bass icon Steve Swallow, and Chet’s brother drummer Jim Doxas.
The main thrust of Riverside is its theme around the timeless music of clarinetist/saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre (1921-2008).
Read the rest at Marlbank.net.
Praise for Greenleaf Music's Rudy Royston
Riverside to release debut album
"Time Travel" by the Dave Douglas Quintet: #6 in New York Times' Year-End Best-Of List
6. Dave Douglas Quintet “Time Travel” (Greenleaf) The trumpeter Dave Douglas formed a smart new quintet last year, and along with a beautiful album of hymns, it created this knockabout winner, capitalizing on the diversity of a roster with the saxophonist Jon Irabagon, the pianist Matt Mitchell, the bassist Linda Oh and the drummer Rudy Royston.
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Greenleaf Music to release drummer Rudy Royston's debut "303"
In-Demand Drummer Rudy Royston Steps Out as a Leader with 303.
Greenleaf Music debut scheduled for February 4th, 2014 release features ten Royston originals plus interpretations of Mozart and Radiohead.
Since moving to New York City in 2006 from his home base in Denver, Rudy Royston has emerged as one of the most exciting and in-demand young drummers on the jazz scene. Having already racked up a list of impressive credits as a sideman with the likes of rising star of the tenor sax, J.D. Allen, alto saxophonist Tia Fuller, bassist Ben Allison, guitarist Bill Frisell and trumpeter Dave Douglas, Royston was ready to step out as a leader in his own right. His debut on Greenleaf Music, 303 (named for Denver’s area code), not only features his brilliant and versatile playing on the kit but also showcases his considerable skills as a composer on ten originals. With a stellar crew of some of the brightest young lights on the New York scene -- guitarist Nir Felder, pianist Sam Harris, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, trumpeter Nadja Noordhuis and the two-bass tandem of Mimi Jones and Yasushi Nakamura -- Royston and company also turn in dramatic interpretations of Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus” and Radiohead’s “High and Dry” on this outstanding debut.