Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Jon Irabagon Trio - Live at Cornelia Street Cafe, New York, NY

The Cornelia Street CafĂ© music venue is a bit like a railroad dining car, long and narrow, walls lined with mirrors substituting for windows. Though steadfastly situated at 29 Cornelia Street in the West Village, this evening the basement room was lurching and the glasses were rattling from the railings of the Jon Irabagon Trio as they marked the release of their new CD, Foxy. On tenor sax: Jon Irabagon, winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, backed by Peter Brendler on bass and illustrious drummer Barry Altschul, who is also credited as “Special Guest” on FoxySince the Monk competition Irabagon has garnered much attention and a loyal following to which he has fed an eclectic diet of performances and CD releases in styles that are a discursion through the landscape of modern jazz and more: avant bebop (Mostly Other People Do The Killing), experimental (I Don’t Hear Nothing But The Blues), music of the 80s (Starship’s Journey), tribute to Sonny Rollins, avant country (Bryan and the Haggards), etc...MORE...

Saturday, September 18, 2010

George Cotsirilos Trio - Past Present

To listen to Past Present without a modicum of background knowledge on San Francisco guitarist George Cotsirilos, while unquestionably enjoyable, would be like starting the first chapter of an important book without first reading the forward which can provide the reader with information to facilitate greater enjoyment and comprehension of the material.  And, so it is with Past Present. The George Cotsirilos Trio is a modern jazz guitar trio and as such one might expect to hear flashy guitar runs and electronic enhancements (distortion, wah-wah), not so on this recording. Knowing that Cotsirilos learned guitar by emulating traditional jazz greats such as Kenny Burrell and Charlie Byrd helps explain his clean, round, unadulterated sound. His technical mastery is immediately apparent but he does not stoop to self-indulgent hooky licks, or over-the-top misplaced breakneck runs. Knowing that Cotsirilos has a love of classical music (he played violin as a child) and that his first CD, Silenciosa, was a solo classical style guitar solo of standards enhances our appreciation of the beautiful rendition here of “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” on classical style nylon string guitar. Cotsirilos studied piano in high school, so it is not surprising then to find out that Track 1, “Good Wood,” is offered as a tribute to bop pianist Cedar Walton. And, blue notes scattered throughout emanate from his love of 1960s blues greats B.B. King and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band...MORE...