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If you know Joshua Smith only through his exploratory work with the cooperative trio Birth, you might be surprised to learn, as I did, that the saxophonist has a thriving practice playing straightahead jazz. His Friday concert at BOP STOP won’t be a standards gig, but it will show a side of the 45-year-old saxophonist that might surprise some fans.
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Silent, Listening, Fred Hersch’s affecting new recording, begins with a moody cover of “Star Crossed Lovers,” an Ellington/Strayhorn composition that was also on Hersch’s first trio recording as a leader, Horizon (Concord Jazz,1985). But don’t read too much into the programming. In music and in life, Hersch, who will play a solo concert at the Treelawn Music Hall on Friday, takes things a day at a time.
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Stephen Philip Harvey is a saxophonist, educator, composer, arranger, clinician, label executive, husband and son. Though he just turned 32 last Friday, you have to wonder where he gets the energy.
“I think it’s unfortunately a symptom of high functioning anxiety,” he said with a laugh that belied the sentiment. “Realistically, and emotionally,” he added, “I just really, really love music.”
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On his new recording, For All We Know (Savant, 2024), Jim Snidero leaned heavily on the classic repertoire: “Love For Sale,” “Willow Weep For Me,” “My Funny Valentine” and the title cut. But midway through, he throws in an unexpected selection, Alec Wilder’s “Blackberry Winter.”
“Well, I love the melodies,” Snidero said by phone, “One of the prettiest melodies I’ve ever recorded is ‘Blackberry Winter.’ I’m trying to stay true to that melody and still be interesting at the same time. It’s always a balance between knowing and not knowing. For me anyway, I’m trying to have a grounding when I’m playing, but still have surprises and still keep people interested and not sure about what’s going to come next.”
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The first thing you need to know about bass trombonist Jennifer Wharton, who will bring a septet to Akron and Cleveland this week, is that she has a delightfully playful sense of humor. The second thing you should know is that she’s nobody’s fool. So when she chose Bonegasm as the name of her four-trombone band, she knew she would hear about it.
“Being a lady brass player, my suit of armor, my protection for most of my career was my humor. If I could hang with the guys and tell jokes, whatever,” Wharton said in a humor-filled video call from her home in the New York area. “But I have been in a couple situations where I can give as good as I get, and people have been offended because it’s a woman saying it.”
Her response to them? “Well, bite me,” she said laughing.
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