Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Emmet Cohen is set to issue his first album on Mack Avenue, Future Stride, Jan. 29.
(Photo: Taili Song Roth)Emmet Cohen’s latest album, Future Stride, works to encompass the bounty of recorded jazz history.
Cohen, who in 2019 won the American Pianists Association Competition, taps bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle Poole for a take of “Dardanella”—a song popularized by bandleader Ben Selvin in a 1919 recording—which premieres below.
“Our version of ‘Dardanella’ is a modern take on the 20th-century gem, pioneered by the stride masters, such as Art Tatum and Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith,” Cohen said in a press release. “The form and organization here display a natural and free progression; an exploration of possibilities which exist when three people think, breathe and feel as a single unit.”
Saxophonist Melissa Aldana and trumpeter Marquis Hill also appear on Future Stride, which is set for release Jan. 29 on the Mack Avenue imprint. DB
Benjamin possessed a fluid, round sound on the alto saxophone, and he was often most recognizable by the layers of electronic effects that he put onto the instrument.
Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
“He’s constructing intelligent musical sentences that connect seamlessly, which is the most important part of linear playing,” Charles McPherson said of alto saxophonist Sonny Red.
Feb 27, 2024 1:40 PM
“I might not have felt this way 30 to 40 years ago, but I’ve reached a point where I can hear value in what people…
Albert “Tootie” Heath (1935–2024) followed in the tradition of drummer Kenny Clarke, his idol.
Apr 5, 2024 10:28 AM
Albert “Tootie” Heath, a drummer of impeccable taste and time who was the youngest of three jazz-legend brothers…
“Both of us are quite grounded in the craft, the tradition and the harmonic sense,” Rosenwinkel said of his experience playing with Allen. “Yet I felt we shared something mystical as well.”
Mar 12, 2024 11:42 AM
“There are a few musicians you hear where, as somebody once said, the molecules in the room change. Geri was one of…
Henry Threadgill performs with Zooid at Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Apr 9, 2024 11:30 AM
Big Ears, the annual four-day music celebration that first took place in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee, could well be…
