Entertainment & Arts
Tribune’s Howard Reich picks the best jazz albums of 2014.
Dec. 3, 2014
World & Nation
Tribune critic Howard Reich and photographer Phil Velasquez traveled to Cuba in 2002 to visit music students and teachers in Havana.
Jan. 20, 2015
Music
**** STEVEN BERNSTEIN “Diaspora Blues” Tzadik Many artists who record for this indispensable label have explored the links between jazz and Hebraic music, but few have done so as eloquently as trumpeter Bernstein, who’s assisted here by the Sam Rivers Trio.
July 21, 2002
**** DAVID BERKMAN “Leaving Home” Palmetto The world of jazz does not lack for fine emerging pianists, but Berkman stands apart from the pack, not only for the intelligence of his playing, but also for his direction of an unusually effective sextet.
April 28, 2002
**** MICHEL LEGRAND “Michel Legrand by Michel Legrand” Decca No one is going to accuse Legrand of being a great jazz pianist, but his performances of his own film music prove so urgent, distinctive and emotionally charged as to make them indispensable.
June 9, 2002
**** VIJAY IYER “Panoptic Modes” Red Giant With each year, jazz increasingly becomes an international music, and pianist Iyer’s release dramatically underscores the point.
Dec. 30, 2001
When Wynton Marsalis’ epic suite “All Rise” (****, Sony) had its world premiere in New York, in 1999, the sprawling work proved somewhat episodic, its cast of symphonic musicians, jazz instrumentalists and gospel choir only sporadically functioning in tandem.
Nov. 1, 2002
**** MATTHEW SHIPP “Nu Bop” Thirsty Ear With each recording, iconoclastic pianist Shipp ventures more deeply into uncharted musical terrain, and he does so to particularly striking effect on his latest release.
Feb. 3, 2002
**** BEBO VALDES TRIO “El Arte del Sabor” Blue Note The great Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes may not be as famous as his son, Chucho Valdes, but the elder musician remains a pianist of at least equal gifts, as this recording attests.
Dec. 9, 2001
**** MAYRA CARIDAD VALDES “La Diosa del Mar” Jazzheads Though she doesn’t yet command a fraction of the fame she deserves, Valdes owns one of the most thrilling female voices in the Afro-Caribbean tradition.
Sept. 29, 2002