Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Trumpeter, Educator Jim Rotondi Dies at 61
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Craig Taborn, sound surfer
(Photo: Courtesy craigtaborn.com)The concept is simple, yet a little crazy … as in, fun.
Keyboardist and composer Craig Taborn has created a new online work of 60 pieces, each about 60 seconds in length, that will play in a randomized order when a listener goes to the 60xSixty website and hits “play.”
“Pressing ‘play’ initiates a run of 60 tracks in a randomized order,” Taborn says in press materials outlining the project. “The sequence ends after all 60 pieces play. The numbers relate to the ordinal position of each piece in the present playlist and are not intended titles or identifiers of the musical works. Every subsequent play shuffles the deck. In time, new pieces may be added as others are removed.”
Taborn said the pieces “relate to one another only in seeking to explore how malleable the perception of a 60-second span of time might be when subject to different sound worlds in succession. Do some pieces feel longer than others? What elements contribute to this subjective experience? How does time pass or not pass?”
It’s the latest offering by the heralded pianist and electronic musician, a work that expands and contracts time, surfs sound from the ultra acoustic to the über electronic, ties them into a singular package, then mixes, matches and messes with them with each playing.
It also highlights the wide-ranging pool of influence in whichTaborn likes to wade. From his solo-piano performance project Avenging Angel, to the Craig Taborn Trio, to his electronic project Junk Magic and more, he has been a noted improviser, composer and sound surfer for several decades now. This is just another example of Taborn following his muse. Hear for yourself at 60xsixty.com. DB
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!
Jul 11, 2024 12:23 PM
The incomparable Charles Lloyd swept the 72nd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, becoming the first artist ever to earn…
“Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”
Jun 4, 2024 12:21 PM
Sitting with Don Was is a comfortable and unhurried exercise. He may seem slightly reserved at first, but ideas and…
“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.
Jun 11, 2024 12:31 PM
Italy’s Umbria Jazz Winter is one of those rare annual festivals that not only coincides with a major holiday —…
Maria Schneider said of Decades, her new compilation release: “I just wanted to create something, put it in a beautiful box and say, ‘Look at what we did.‘”
Jun 18, 2024 12:00 PM
Maria Schneider opened the sleek black box and placed it on a coffee table in her Manhattan apartment. Inside lay the…
