The Chicago Jazz Showcase owner Joe Segal has died. He was 94. As the Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich reports Joe promoted gigs by many of the greats of the music down through the decades including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Von Freeman, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis. Read Howard's tribute here.
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To have become a prisoner to genre is a problem that ruins a good deal of jazz albums, when a band tries to make a certain sound because it corresponds to some distant model. In other words: doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.
Norwegian eight-piece Jaga Jazzist do not fall into this bad faith trap, genre actually is not something you think about at all on Pyramid, their superb new album and first in almost five years. But yes, it is jazz relatable but really you could say the same about prog or experimental rock.
The track 'Spiral Era' has an incredible drive to it and an immersive highly rhythmic cinematic sweep that ultimately paves the way for a grooving finish. It's certainly a trip and the other tracks, paying homage to Fela Kuti and Isao Tomita along the way conjure a group sound that really is unique and make Pyramid such a complete and stunning achievement.