I can think of fewer jazz musicians who have arrived on the scene in recent years who have been quite as under-whelming at Mary Halvorson. Everytime I hear her I am put in mind of a comment by an acquaintance who told me that she once fell asleep during a Tord Gustavsen gig - a musician who, like Halvorson, is similarly attracted to a navel-gazing, introspective style of jazz which makes Bill Evans seem like Jerry Lee Lewis in comparison. I can't believe the positive comments on this board from fellow members whose opinion I very much respect. I must be missing something as I think Halvorson is dreadful!! Makes you wonder whether too many white cats in jazz are ruining the music?
I must admit that my taste is more in line with the session by Ambrose Akinmusire whtat Calum posted. This is the kind of jazz that gives you confidence that the future of the music is in very good hands indeed. His Blue Note debut is in my car at the moment and it is a terrific disc and the second this year to feature the inspired, winning coupling of the trumpeter and Walter Smith III. This is what jazz should be about - drive, swing, tenderness, fire, guts, genuine excitement and an abrasive edge. They are genuinely building on the foundations of Miles' classic sixties quintet and pushing the music in a direction that is thoroughly new and inspiring. Akinmusire is the most exciting trumpeter I have heard emerge on the scene since Dave Douglas and has emerged with a very unique and individualistic approach to his horn. In some ways, he doesn't even play like a trumpeter and in this manner I can very much hear echoes of the sadly neglected Kenny Dorham.
I must admit that my taste is more in line with the session by Ambrose Akinmusire whtat Calum posted. This is the kind of jazz that gives you confidence that the future of the music is in very good hands indeed. His Blue Note debut is in my car at the moment and it is a terrific disc and the second this year to feature the inspired, winning coupling of the trumpeter and Walter Smith III. This is what jazz should be about - drive, swing, tenderness, fire, guts, genuine excitement and an abrasive edge. They are genuinely building on the foundations of Miles' classic sixties quintet and pushing the music in a direction that is thoroughly new and inspiring. Akinmusire is the most exciting trumpeter I have heard emerge on the scene since Dave Douglas and has emerged with a very unique and individualistic approach to his horn. In some ways, he doesn't even play like a trumpeter and in this manner I can very much hear echoes of the sadly neglected Kenny Dorham.
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