Tomasz Licak/Artur Tuznik Quintet

Tomasz Licak (sax) & Artur Tuznik (piano)

Quintet (Blackout Music; 2011)

Andreas Lang (bass)

Anders Mogensen (drums)

Tomasz Dabrowski (trumpet)

A wonderful discovery for me in the last few days has been a quintet session from Tomasz Licak and Artur Tuznik. This fairly new (in terms of lineup) Polish/Danish quintet are young but possess the great energy and punch of their influences. The group combine a sensual style of contemporary modern with well crafted improvisation. Their latest release, simply titled, Quintet feels like mid-period Branford Marsalis or an adventurous One For All.

The group manage to sound well at home in the modern hard bop setting as they do when they let the rhythm fly. "Uwaga" comes pounding out of the speaker with vigour. Tuznik and Mogensen drive the beat with cinematic effect. Tuznik shapes the piece with somber relaxed movements intertwined with improvised changes. These are cut across boisterous chords from the horn section which make "Uwaga" a massive opening statement.

"Lightblub In Green" reminds me of the best moments of being in a jazz club and closing my eyes to the rhythm. Lang and Licak have a lovely exchange midway through that could resemble Jackie Mclean and Paul Chambers at their Blue Note best. The quintet quietly swing with verve and each member's contribution is heard crystal clear. The tone is lowered on the melodic and beautiful "Nardis" (also featured on their previous album as Last Call). It's a technical and introspective piece where Tuznik takes center stage and delivers a performance that slowly envelops you with very powerful emotions. Tearful.

While most of the material on Quintet has a contemporary atmosphere, "Hobbit" rips the cover off the box and the group conjure up a funky groove built inside patterns of free jazz. It may have the uninitiated shaking their heads and they will eventually be sucked into the groove. There are individual moments where band members create subtle colours and tones and then return to the fire free form of their original theme.

Quintet is a stellar addition to the brief catalog of Licak and Tuznik and they will definitely be one of the creative duos that we will be talking about in the next few years. I loved this record and think its a must for every music fan. And I'm not just talking jazz fans. This is the wonderful balance between contemporary and free jazz.

jazzmusic24 Best Albums Of 2010 Recap

It was a fantastic year for music. Here's a recap of jazzmusic24's Best Albums Of 2010.

Mary Halvorson
Mikrokolektyw
One For All
Soweto Kinch
Soil & Pimp Sessions
Jason Moran
The Vandermark 5
Polar Bear
Bobby Avey
Dave Stapleton

There were a couple of albums I didn't get a chance to write about in our Best Of 2010 list. More because I was ill for a few days and couldn't put brain to computer to get the words out. These are by no means "honorable mentions". These are fantastic and in some cases (Jason Adasiewicz, Curtis Fuller, Kris Davis and Ricardo Gallo) phenomenal records that are worth every moment hunting down.

Ricardo Gallo Resistencias (Laidstrito Fonica)
Kris Davis Good Citzen (Fresh Sounds/New Talent)
Brian Eno Small Craft On A Milk Sea (Warp Records)
Curtis Fuller I Will Tell Her (Capri Records)
Tom Rainey Pool School (Clean Feed Records)
Keefe Jackson Seeing You See (Clean Feed Records)
Magnus Broo Swedish Wood (Moserobie Music)
Jason Adasiewicz Sun Rooms (Delmark)

I discovered a lot of new music this year. This was in part to some great friends, musicians, record labels and other blog writers. I especially wanted to mention my two favourite blogs Minimalistic Music and Jazznyt. Both are a little more avant garde than jazzmusic24 and provide a different perspective on the global community.

In addition, contributing editor, Kristopher Spencer has the insansely insightful site Scorebaby that discusses soundtrack music from every part of the globe as well as a great book on soundtracks that he wrote a year ago which you must own. I highly recommend you check them all out.

We have enjoyed working with and hearing from everyone and we hope to continue with some great new material in 2011. I hope you dig the music and have discovered some cool stuff. For us its all about turning people on to music that's both accessible and adventurous. As always we want to hear from you as well. So if you have a record you feel would be a great fit for us to know about please let us know.

And we are looking forward to another solid year of adventure in 2011.

Video: Tom Rainey Trio (Tom Rainey, Mary Halvorson and Ingrid Laubrock)From all of us at jazzmusic24, thank you.

Best Albums Of 2010: One For All

Over the next two weeks jazzmusic24 revisits our favourite albums of 2010.

One For All (group; formed 1997)
Incorrigible (JLP)

Eric Alexander (sax)
Jim Rotondi (trumpet)
David Hazeltine (piano)
Joe Farnsworth (drums)
John Weber (bass)
Steve Davis (trombone)

One For All have consistently delivered albums of quality and distinction for over a decade now (15 albums in all). This years, Incorrigible (Jazz Legacy Productions) was no exception.

Driven by an unparalleled sense of unity, each member of One For All writes music for their records. Incorrigible demonstrates once again that One For All are that rare breed of band that you can tell has been together for a long time. They play off each other extremely well. They challenge each other with every note. And they have fun doing it.

From the eternal standard "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", the lovely tribute to Freddie Hubbard "Voice" to what could easily become a standard in twenty years, the Steve Davis penned "Spirit Waltz"--Incorrigible is an album that is quite accessible for any music fan.

One For All have always been compared to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (a comparison they enjoy in fact). But they continue to show that they are a new breed for a new generation of jazz fans. This is a group enjoys playing together while having their own highly successful individual careers.

The title track, "Incorrigible," was written by Eric Alexander and it rips with delight. Jim Rotondi's playing is immaculate as always and the interchanges between the horn section are superb. But as with all One For All records each musician standout in their own way. Hazeltine, Webber and Farnsworth all have shinning moments throughout Incorrigible and that's what makes One For All one of the most important jazz groups of the last decade.

One For All are not a band out to reinvent the wheel--but they definitely make the wheel look alot better with each outing. Their sense of unity and continuing drive of making the perfect record is one of the things we have always enjoyed. Incorrigible is highly recommended and one of jazzmusic24's favourites this year.

Steve Davis

Steve Davis (trombone; b. 1967)

Dig Deep (Criss Cross)

Jim Rotundi (trumpet)

Eric Alexander (sax)

David Hazeltine (piano)
Nat Reeves (bass)
Joe Farnsworth (drums)

Steve Davis is regarded in the jazz scene as the heir-apparent to Curtis Fuller and J.J. Johnson. He is also one of the co-founding members of the sextet, One For All. Davis has the great distinction of performing in the final Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and Jackie McLean lineups as well as with Chick Corea's Origin Sextet. Bold, confident and expressive are all the things one will say after listening to a Steve Davis record.

Steve Davis has recorded over 15 albums to his name but the one that I wanted to focus on is his third album, Dig Deep (Criss Cross; 1997).

A few weeks ago I was doing my unfortunate/fortunate rummaging through used record stores for little gems. I found Dig Deep on that day and it made my eyes pop out of my head. And it was four dollars (US)!

Dig Deep is from what I can tell the first actually studio recording of the One For All band. This is significant in that up to this point they had only been performing live. Davis captures that live energy and the early unity of the band perfectly on this record. Dig Deep is fluid and diverse with the majority of the album written by Davis but each member contributes solid interplay and solo work throughout. It is a brilliant record documenting One For All in their early stages. At this point the most well known in the group was Eric Alexander. But everyone here is in crisp, solid form and up to the challenge. This a killer post hard bop date that pretty much anyone will enjoy.

The coolest thing about Dig Deep is the chemistry the band exudes. The opening track, aptly titled. "One For All," was written by Davis (originally when he was with The Jazz Messengers) is remarkably fresh, pounding and lively. The cover of "I Should Care" is beautiful and upbeat, featuring some incredible arrangements by David Hazeltine. In addition, another Davis penned number, "Payne's Window" is awesome and illustrates Davis great ability as band leader. The closing number, "Trippin'" is a barn-burner of a number at just over seven minutes. Joe Farnsworth and Eric Alexander really light up this piece and make it a perfect bookend to the opening track.

Dig Deep is definitely the first chapter in what would led to the long history for the entire group culminating a few more months later on the very first "official" One For All album. This a must have album even if you don't own a One For All album. It's a great modern hard bop date that is rare and hard to come by nowadays from most jazz groups. Seek it out. Indeed, sometimes when you find history no matter what genre you have to pick it up. You will regret it if you don't.

One For All: Continuing The Tradition

One For All (group; formed 1997)

Incorrigible (JLP)

Eric Alexander (sax)

Jim Rotondi (trumpet)

David Hazeltine (piano)

Joe Farnsworth (drums)

John Weber (bass)

Steve Davis (trombone)

For more than a decade, One For All have been one of the most exciting and swingin' hard bop groups on the jazz scene. The sextet have consistently been compared to the great Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers--a bold comparison but probably pretty accurate. Each member of this band is also a renowned solo artist so when they do record together it is always special.

One For All have been a permanent fixture in the New York jazz scene with frequently individual live performances (mostly at Smoke Jazz Club) in addition to their yearly performances as One For All at the famous Uptown venue. The group have just released their 15 album, Incorrigible (Jazz Legacy Productions) and it continues the groups string of straight-ahead hard bop with the same phenomenal results.

Incorrigible begins with the standard "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" but things really get jumping on the second piece "Petite Angel" penned by pianist David Hazeltine and featuring some lovely solo work from saxophonist, Eric Alexander and trombonist, Steve Davis. Upbeat with a slightly mid tempo groove "Petite Angel" is a signature example of how ease it is to fall in love this amazing sextet.

One of the most important and delightful things I have enjoyed all my years of listening to One For All is the fact that each member of the band writes material for the albums. So the listener tends to get a good overview of the depth this band possesses. There is no difference on Incorrigible. The loving tribute to the great trumpeter, Freddie Hubbard entitled "voice", written by trumpeter Jim Rotondi is sublime, touching and emotionally perfect.

The title track written by Eric Alexander is another standout moment as this is where the group begin to really to smokin' and you feel the power of their musicianship. Steve Davis (trombone) has been one of my favourtie musicians of the last ten years. He is definitely taking up the mantle of Curtis Fuller and J..J. Johnson with great ease. The track "Spirit Waltz" which originally featured on his 2001 album, Systems Blue (Criss Cross) is revisited here with the same vigour as its predecessor. In addition to always pitch perfect modality of Davis, drummer Joe Farnsworth helps drive this piece along with some nice timing accompanied by the rest of the groups precision work. For me "Spirit Waltz" is the second standout moment on Incorrigible.

The album rounds out with Rotondi and Davis numbers, "Back To Back" and "So Soon" respectively, where former is an upbeat latin-tinged soul-filler. The closer, "So Soon" reinforces the group ethos with each member practically highlighted throughout. It has an almost classic Blue Note Records quality to it. The perfect way to end the session.

One For All are that rare breed in jazz circles--a consistent group that has stuck together for years and continues to challenge each other and you can hear the fun they have playing together. This is a band that enjoys being in the studio as well on stage and every single record every record captures this magnificently. One For All continue to carry the straight ahead tradition of hard bop and of the small batch of new records so far this year, Incorrigible is by far in my top five.

Mike LeDonne: Live Review From Smoke, NYC

Mike LeDonne (piano; b. 1956)
Live At Smoke, New York City (2.6.2010)

Mike LeDonne is a highly accomplished and well regarded pianist - His performances both on record and live are pure and entertaining. With a gentle and sophisticated post bop style, Mike LeDonne is definitely a disciple of such greats as Harold Mabern, Jaki Byard and Oscar Peterson.

With over 12 albums as leader, LeDonne has worked with a wide array of musicians including Dizzy Gillespie, Joshua Redman, Ryan Kisor, Christian McBride, Jimmy Cobb, Eric Alexander and the list goes on. LeDonne also spent time in the Milt Jackson Quartet in the late '80s and soon became the group;s primary songwriter in the latter years of Jackson's career. Mike has been a mainstay on the New York jazz scene since the late '90s.

He has had a small but revolving quartet, quintet and sextets for years. His most recent quintet includes; Eric Alexander (sax), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), John Weber (bass) and Joe Farnsworth (drums). It's no surprise 3/5 of this quintet consists of members from the fiery sextet, One For All(Alexander, Weber and Farnsworth), which makes the current CD, FiveLive (Savant Records), recorded at the legendary Smoke Jazz Club on the Upper West Side of Manhattan even more exciting.

I was one of the lucky 60 plus people jammed comfortably into this iconic little room to hear a wonderful and sometimes smokin first set from LeDonne's quintet. The evening shifted mainly between LeDonne's own material, including his feisty tribute to fellow Smoke visitor and performer, Harold Mabern entitled "Hands," as well as a wonderful rendition of the classic "I Should Care". With the addition of Eric Alexander and Jeremy Pelt driving home the intensity of the night's proceedings, everyone was in for a stellar hour of jazz.

The balance between the members wasn't just between the leader and his horn section but the rhythm section of Weber and Farnsworth were just as vital. They created a pulsating atmosphere which allowed each member there an opportunity to express some crafty solo work, especially Farnsworth who is a fantastic drummer and in my opinion, highly underrated.

Definitely an enjoyable evening for Jazz lovers, but for those who couldn't be there or may not have a chance to see Mike LeDonne, I would suggest picking up his latest which is the perfect prescription for "not being there"--FiveLive (Live At Smoke Jazz Club) (Savant Records). Looking to discover something new and definitely entertaining--get yer ears into Mike LeDonne.