Keen to explore an artist’s oeuvre but overwhelmed by choice in today’s stream-heavy world? Fear not: from Joni to Fela, Madonna to Miles, our critics tell you where to start
We exist in a once unimaginable world of musical abundance. The internet means that more or less the entirety of pop history is available to anyone at the touch of a button; more than 100,000 new tracks are uploaded to just one streaming service every day. Complete obscurity has been essentially eradicated: even if a song is too arcane for Spotify or Apple Music or Tidal, it is more than likely someone will have uploaded it to YouTube. Indeed, music is so abundant, the sheer volume on offer can feel overwhelming – where do you start?
The obvious answer is a greatest hits record or a best-of playlist, but there is something more fulfilling about taking in a complete statement from an artist, even – or perhaps more so – in an era when the album increasingly seems like a devalued currency, just a collection from which you can cherrypick tracks for a playlist. Picking the ideal introduction to an artist is sometimes very straightforward – their best-known album may be their best-known album for a reason – and sometimes more serpentine: not every artist’s biggest album shows the full breadth of what they do. But here are 15 potential embarkation points for some of the most important artists of the pop era. Alexis Petridis
Frank Portolese Chicago jazz guitar alive and well in Southwest Florida
Frank Portolese was my first guitar teacher. Until today, I have learned that his musical journey included studying privately with the great Jack Cecchini for five years, and learned the instrument along jazz Improvisation with Joe Daley and voice with Bill Rush. Our gaze in life is often stifled by the cards that we are dealt. ~ David Moore
Joshua Redman is without any doubt an acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists that has emerged in the decade of the 1990s. The son of legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman and dancer Renee Shedroff, Joahua was blessed with influences at an early age to a variety of musics (jazz, classical, rock, soul, Indian, Indonesian, Middle-Eastern, African) and instruments (recorder, piano, guitar, gatham, gamelan). His first instrument was the clarinet at age nine. Later, Joshua switched to what became his primary instrument of expression, the tenor saxophone, only one year later. Like many jazz artists, Joshua Redman was influenced by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cannonball Adderley and his father, Dewey Redman, as well as The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Earth, Wind and Fire, Prince, The Police and Led Zeppelin drew Joshua more deeply into music. But although Joshua loved playing the saxophone and was a dedicated member of the award-winning Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble and Combo from 1983-86, academics were always his first priority, and he never seriously considered becoming a professional musician.
Carrying on the art of the amazing jazz tradition features Renee Rosnes, Ingrid Jensen, Norkio Ueda, Allison Miller, Nicole Glover & Alexa Tarantino.
“If I were blind and could not see.. if I could not hear.. how would I know it is love ..’ ~ David Moore tampabayjazzguitar
rtist bio
ARTEMIS
The cord of ARTEMIS is the pianist and composer Renee Rosnes, Artemis is a powerful ensemble of modern masters. Named for the Greek goddess of the hunt, the multinational, multigenerational band was founded in 2017 under the banner of International Women’s Day. Artemis’ performance at the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival was so dynamic, Blue Note Records President Don Was signed the group to the label. Tour dates across Europe and North America followed, including performances at such iconic stages as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, SFJAZZ, Chicago Orchestra Hall, as well as at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Saratoga Jazz Festival, and the Monterey Jazz Festival among others. Artemis has been featured on the cover of DownBeat, in Vanity Fair, on NPR’s Jazz Night in America. Their eponymously titled debut album contained a superb nine song set and was released in 2020. The recording was described by NPR as “a killer line-up of players who hail from all over the world…they all converge on this extremely cosmopolitan, sleek, rhythm-forward, modern sound.” Artemis will deliver their second album in Spring 2023. Each member of the band is a virtuoso player, composer and bandleader and the group’s repertoire reflects each individual’s sound. From original music to mind-bending arrangements of eclectic material, Artemis performs with power, passion, and high-wire intensity.
“Collectively, the sheer force of the group’s ability is staggering!” ~ Downbeat
“Together they revealed a shared intensity and suggested something alluring and new. The group’s debut release, ‘Artemis’ delivers on that promise… The real headline here is this ensemble’s cohesion, its ability to move gracefully through various styles and moods and to sound, by turns, authoritative and playful, locked-in or loose-limbed. In the tradition of drummer Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Artemis crafts an identifiable band sound rooted in sturdy yet flexible rhythms… Artemis means to upend expectations, gently and yet with force. Its music comes off like a nuanced argument for a fresh point of view.” ~ Wall Street Journal
“On a sunny August afternoon in 2018, I was among the thousands of fans attending the Newport Jazz Festival who had their minds blown by Artemis. Although each individual member of this supergroup is a bona fide jazz titan, these incredible musicians dwell in the rarefied air of bands whose whole is greater than the sum of its already sublime parts. Their musical conversation is sophisticated, soulful and powerful, and their groove runs deep.” ~ Don Was, Blue Note Records President
HISTORY OF ARTEMIS
Throughout its eight-decade history, Blue Note Records has been celebrated as a home for the leading voices in jazz. The label continued that tradition with the release of the self-titled debut from ARTEMIS, a supergroup initially comprising of seven of the most acclaimed musicians in modern jazz. Featuring pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, clarinetist Anat Cohen, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, and featured vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, ARTEMIS conjured a powerful collective voice from this septet of visionary bandleaders and composers.
The band initially assembled at Rosnes’ behest for a European festival tour three years ago. “I chose musicians whom I respected and wanted to make music with,” the pianist says, “and after performing together, I realized that we had a brilliant chemistry and so we decided to explore the possibilities of what might develop over time. That’s how ARTEMIS was born.”
The group is distinctive not only for bringing together singular artists, each renowned for their own remarkable solo careers; but for its multi-generational and globe-spanning line-up. Despite its relatively brief existence, ARTEMIS has been featured in Vanity Fair and on NPR’s Jazz Night in America, and has performed on some of the country’s most iconic stages, from Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Tisch Center for the Arts to the Newport Jazz Festival.
ARTEMIS is comprised of pianist Renee Rosnes, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, alto saxophonist/flutist Alexa Tarantino, as well as bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Allison Miller.
For more information contact Cem Kurosman at Blue Note Records