Peter Margasak


Peter Margasak's news entries:

  • {parents:file_name}

    ​Mats Gustafsson at this year’s edition of Jazzfest Saalfelden in Saalfelden, Austria.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Wim Wabbes, outgoing European Jazz Network president, makes a point during an opening day session of the ENJ conference in Ghent, Belgium.

  • {parents:file_name}

    “I’m not going to reinvent the wheel, but maybe I can reinvent things for myself,” says Paal Nilssen-Love.

  • {parents:file_name}

    The European trio ​Ghosted played a hypnotic set on Aug. 3 at Portugal’s Jazz em Agosto.

  • {parents:file_name}

    ​Rempis started his Aerophonic Records label in 2013.

    Dave Rempis Works the Chicago Scene

    Although he operates in a musical milieu that treasures spontaneity, agility and invention as much as anything else,…

  • {parents:file_name}

    Vasil Hajigrudev and Hristina Beleva perform as a duo during the European Jazz Network’s September gathering in Sofia, Bulgaria.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Drummer Gard Nilssen, this year’s artist-in-residence, performs at Jazzfestival Saalfelden with his trio Acoustic Unity.

  • {parents:file_name}

    The trio ​Acoustic Unity is among the groups slated to perform at Jazz Festival Saalfelden in Austria.

  • {parents:file_name}
  • {parents:file_name}

    Harpist Alina Bzhezhinska, one of 15 European artists DownBeat critics selected as must-hear music.

    New Sounds from Europe

    Many of us at DownBeat have found ourselves stuck at home lately, wondering what’s happening elsewhere — especially…

  • {parents:file_name}

    Kirke Kardja performs as a member of the Karja-Renard-Wandinger Trio at EJN.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Julius Hemphill rehearsing Long Tongues: A Saxophone Opera in 1990

    Julius Hemphill’s Crusade

    Considering the seemingly boundless spring of archival music collections in the marketplace, it’s surprising that so…

  • {parents:file_name}

    Guitarist Ruben Machtelinckx formed the Aspen Edities imprint in 2017 alongside euphonium player Niels Van Heertum and writer Sanne Huysmans

  • {parents:file_name}

    Devonté Hynes, of Blood Orange fame, collaborated with Chicago’s Third Coast Percussion (shown here) on Fields.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Pianist Pat Thomas recently has enjoyed some serious momentum.

  • {parents:file_name}

    The prolific Paal Nilssen-Love runs his own label, PNL Records.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Nils Økland, who performs in Lumen Drones, has released a handful of recordings in various settings through Hubro, a label based in Oslo, Norway.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Trumpeter Tomasz Dabrowski is a musician eager to challenge himself with shifting contexts and self-imposed limitations.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Drummer Gerald Cleaver works with some of today’s most fearless musicians.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Makaya McCraven performs at the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, on Nov. 17.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Saxophonist Art Pepper (right) recorded with bassist Charlie Haden during 1979 sessions in Los Angeles. The material has been anthologized on Promise Kept: The Complete Artists House Recordings, a five-disc set.

    Art Pepper’s Comeback

    In 1977 alto saxophonist Art Pepper told New York Times critic John S. Wilson, “In a very short time I’ll be like…

  • {parents:file_name}

    Seeing a Charles Lloyd performance changed the trajectory of Maria Faust’s creative life.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Multi-instrumentalist Matthias Schriefl makes a big impression during a collaboration with the hr-Bigband at the 2018 Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt in Germany.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Saxophonist Hanna Paulsberg (left), vocalist Rohey Taalah and bassist Ellen Andrea Wang perform as Gurls during A l’arme! Festival, which ran July 31-Aug. 3 in Berlin.

  • {parents:file_name}

    In 2011, Fabrizio Spera and a couple of colleagues opened the Blutopia record shop in Rome’s Pigneto neighborhood.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Philadelphia’s Sounds Of Liberation

  • {parents:file_name}

    John Zorn performs his Hermetic Organ piece earlier in June at Jazz Festival Ljubljana, an event that unspooled 14 sets of the composer’s Bagatelles rendered by various New York musicians.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Pianist Simon Nabatov has released dozens of albums on Leo.

  • {parents:file_name}

    “From as early as I can remember, I’ve been experimenting with how many different sounds you can get out of a piano,” Elliot Galvin said.

    Elliot Galvin, Hardly Conservative

    London keyboardist Elliot Galvin is a musician of implacable, nonchalant curiosity. Since emerging at the start of this…

  • {parents:file_name}

    While jazz has been a common thread, the work of Danish guitarist Mark Solborg’s has veered well outside any clear parameters.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Anthony Braxton performs at the Edition Festival, which ran Feb. 7–10 in Stockholm.

  • {parents:file_name}

    A very relaxed Christian Meaas Svendsen with members of Nakama

  • {parents:file_name}

    Guitarist Hedvig Mollestad (center) said her band doesn’t think in terms of “jazz or rock.”

  • {parents:file_name}

    Rodrigo Amado (right) recently issued History Of Nothing (Trost).

  • {parents:file_name}

    Lisa Ullén recently released a 3-album set, Piano Works (Disorder).

  • {parents:file_name}

    Bassist Greg Cohen (from left), trumpeter Dave Douglas, drummer Joey Baron and saxophonist John Zorn perform as Masada at Jazz Em Agosto in Lisbon, Portugal.

  • {parents:file_name}

    En Corps performs at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Kongsberg, Norway.

  • {parents:file_name}

    On Kuba Więcek’s debut, Another Raindrop, listeners can find influences as far flung as the trip-hop feel of Massive Attack and folkloric dance rhythms.

    Polish Jazz, Worldwide

    In May 2015, Warner Music Group acquired the massive catalog of Polskie Nagrania, the old state-run Polish label of the…

  • {parents:file_name}

    Pianist Monica Dominique is featured on a box set that anthologizes Swedish jazz between 1970 and 1979.

    Swedish Jazz, Excavated

    Two decades ago, the Swedish state-run label Caprice Records launched a remarkably inclusive series intended to…

  • {parents:file_name}

    Saxophonist Philipp Gropper works in many disparate contexts, playing in bands led by vibrant German musicians, including bassist Pablo Held and fellow saxophonist Wanja Slavin, in addition to co-leading the electro-acoustic foursome Tau.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Pianist Jason Moran and percussionist Milford Graves perform as a duo during the Big Ears Festival, which ran March 22–25 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Guitarist Raphael Roginski has performed as a solo artist, in duos and in numerous ensembles.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Roscoe Mitchell of the Art Ensemble of Chicago performs during the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Oslo, Norway, on July 7.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Willem Breuker (1944-2010)

  • {parents:file_name}

    Patrons shop for records at Chicago’s Dusty Groove.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Saxophonist Phillip Gropper is an integral part of WhyPlayJazz’s musical roster.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Camila Meza (left), Ryan Keberle and Scott Robinson perform in Seattle as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival on March 13

  • {parents:file_name}

    Vocalist Sofia Jernberg was among the participants at this year’s October Meeting at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam, which ran from Oct. 7–9.

  • {parents:file_name}

    Marc Ribot (left) and Joe Henry perform at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, on April 1.


Peter Margasak's reviews: