Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
A Love Supreme at 60: Thoughts on Coltrane’s Masterwork
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
Chicago-based pianist Matt Piet’s set to release a new album with Four Letter Words, a trio that also includes tenor saxophonist Jake Wark and drummer Bill Harris.
(Photo: Matt Schwerin)
The pianist also helms the Matt Piet Trio, a group dubbed His Disorganization and performs in a trio with reedist Dave Rempis and drummer Tim Daisy.
(Photo: Matt Schwerin)Pinch Point seems like a similar conceit to Rummage Out, but they sound totally different.
Pinch Point is like the culmination of a lot of efforts with Bill and Jay. I owe them a lot, because they’ve been my most consistent collaborators over the last couple years. They were the first people that I collaborated with [in Chicago], and what we set out to do initially was to be a band that only improvised. We wanted it to be this trio that had no leader, and we kept getting together and trying to rehearse, improvise, rehearse; improvising over and over and over again. And eventually, we realized that we needed to write tunes just so that we could get into the improvising and develop a sound together.
The premise of City In A Garden lends itself to additional volumes. So, is that an idea that you’re going to revisit, structuring an album that way?
I’m really happy with the way that it turned out, so it could be something to do again. But right now, it feels very much like out of the three big records that I put out last year—and now with Pinch Point, it feels like I have to take a step back and maybe do something smaller. Not necessarily less ambitious, but just smaller in scope. So, maybe more duo stuff with one musician or something that’s the opposite of asking seven people to record, which is a rather daunting task. DB
“This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.
Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.
Apr 8, 2025 1:23 PM
Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, featuring…
“I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson, during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival.
Apr 15, 2025 11:44 AM
Between last Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Ethan Iverson performed as part of the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival in…
“At the end of the day, once you’ve run out of differences, we’re left with similarities,” Collier says. “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.”
Apr 15, 2025 11:55 AM
DownBeat has a long association with the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference, the premiere…
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
