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© 2007 Imani Winds |
THE MERCURY NEWS
Concert review of Wayne Shorter collaboration
April 12, 2008
By, Richard Scheinin
WAYNE SHORTER TUNES EXPLODE WITH JOY IN SAN FRANCISCO
"Shorter, who turns 75 this summer, and his acoustic quartet were joined for the two pieces by the Imani Winds...And there he was - 50 years after joining Maynard Ferguson's big band - seated alongside the five Imani's in his own little big band, joking with Imani flutist Valerie Coleman and clearly being inspired by the ensemble's high-spirited response to his compositions.
At times, the Imani's were full-out improvising: deep riffs from bassoonist Monica Ellis, big whoops from French hornist Jeff Scott. In response, Shorter's soprano saxophone outbursts were swooping and giddy.
Here and there, magically, the six-piece horn section kept coalescing into elusive chords floating like crystals in space.
...with the Imanis, it all came together..." READ MORE
THE BOSTON GLOBE
Concert Review
March 18, 2008
By, Matthew Guerrieri
STIRRING SOUNDS FROM EXPATRIATES AND EXILES
"Ellis's deep, reedy bassoon tone and Scott's warm horn anchored the ensemble's big sound, while their extroverted phrasing was equally fluent in avant-garde music.
Coleman's "Suite: Portraits of Josephine"... highlighted Coleman's talent for delineating form and emotion with shifts between ingeniously varied instrumental combinations.
The repertoire - classical to jazz, via eastern Europe, Latin America, and an African-American in Paris - and the optimistically exuberant performance echoed the multicultural stew of post-WWI Europe..." READ MORE
KALAMAZOO GAZETTE
Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot! Concert Review
February 14, 2008
By, William Wood
TALENTED PERFORMERS RECAPTURE BAKER'S "LIFE OF LE JAZZ HOT"
"What a way to make wind instruments hip: Employ them to tell the life story of a larger-than-life personality, Josephine Baker.
The members of Imani Winds... have come up with a thoroughly compelling and accessible project that defies category.
The talents of the Imani Winds members seemed boundless during the show..." READ MORE
CLASSICAL VOICE OF NORTH CAROLINA
Concert Review
November 18, 2007
By Paul D. Williams
"By the time the lights dim and the first performer walks onto the stage playing the opening lines, you suspect you are in for a gorgeous Sunday afternoon of top flight musicianship." READ MORE
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Concert Review
November 5, 2007
By Peter Dobrin
COLEMAN DEBUTS A NEW CONCERTO
"Quite aside from its novelty of genre, though, Coleman's concerto is a wonderfully substantive piece. Her expansive sense of melody evokes the best in movie music. A spirited orchestra part (an ensemble of strings, brass, percussion, harp and piano) knows just when to bump up against the soloists and when to back away. And for each of her Imani colleagues, Coleman (the group's flutist) wrote meaty parts. I'm particularly in love with the role she gave hornist Jeff Scott, which was unusually sensitive to his strengths - his easy sense of freedom, and a manipulation of tone that suggests something downright vocal.
But what's striking about Imani is that each player is polished and virtuosic. They took the first half of the program by themselves, giving elfin accounts of scherzos by Franck and Bozza. In an arrangement of Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin by horn legend Mason Jones, each player in the ensemble was a marvelously agile proxy for a full orchestra." READ MORE
JAZZMAN MAGAZINE
Review of Wayne Shorter Quartet collaboration
at Cite de la Musique, Paris
September 12, 2007
By Alex Dutilh
In my experience, after 35 years of concerts, I've never attended a concert so full of life, intelligence, reactive participation and reciprocated love. It was a lesson in writing spanning all the textures (fl, clar, ob, bsn, hn, sop sax, pno, bass, drums) without being in the least bit academic. In the phrases of Shorter himself the Monk discontinuous lesson was reassembled. One needed 24 hours to come back to earth. READ MORE
IMANI WINDS MAKE IMPRESSION
ON CHICK COREA
Chick Corea's blog "Notes from the Road" describes Imani Winds' performance with Wayne Shorter in Marciac, France
August 23, 2007
"Then his chamber music was performed by the Imani Winds, a New York wind ensemble that absolutely killed Wayne's beautiful new chamber music written for the ensemble. ('to kill' in musician talk means to play at the top level of creative performance – to sound great, astounding, etc)." READ MORE
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
Review of the latest CD release,
Josephine Baker – A Life of Le Jazz Hot!
August 12, 2007
By Andrew Druckenbrod
Her [Josephine Baker] spirit infuses the entire disc, in both the playful rapport among the members and the convivial compositions. In all, the disc is a loving homage that contextualizes as much as lauds the singer. READ MORE
AUDIOPHILE AUDITION
Review of the latest CD release,
Josephine Baker – A Life of Le Jazz Hot!
August 5, 2007
By John Sunier
Imani Winds is much more than the usual woodwind quintet. Two of its members compose and arrange the music of many of their CDs. This one celebrates the life of the black entertainer/dancer/chanteuse who became such a huge hit in the Paris of the 1920s and 1930s. READ MORE
TORONTO GLOBE and MAIL
Review of Wayne Shorter Quartet collaboration
July 2, 2007
By J.D. Considine
NOTHING TYPICAL IN THESE DAZZLING SHOWS
The best part of the collaboration was the way Shorter exploited both colouration of the Imani Winds and the rhythmic potential of his own quartet to ensure the music built to an exhilarating climax. Here's hoping these pieces are recorded soon. READ MORE
CLASSIC FM
Feature story
BLOWING HOT AND COOL
July 2, 2007
By Phillip Clark
READ MORE
CANADA'S NATIONAL POST
Review of Wayne Shorter Quartet collaboration
June 30, 2007
By Mike Doherty
MONTREAL JAZZ FESTIVAL: UNEXPECTED 101
New York's Imani Winds, who had opened the concert with a performance of Shorter's Ravel-esque wind quintet, "Terra Incognita," join the quartet for some intensely rhythmic and lushly-textured music which sounds like the score to the best film never made.
The show ends with an extended climax as he and drummer Brian Blade let loose while the rest of the nonet plays an unrelenting repeated figure, punctuated with glorious bursts of sound. READ MORE
NEW JERSEY STAR-LEDGER
Review of the latest CD release,
Josephine Baker – A Life of Le Jazz Hot!
June 28, 2007
By Bradley Bambarger
[The] works here brim with the charm of early jazz and prewar burlesque, the group's lithe sound bolstered by swinging percussion. A blue-hued melancholy peeks out from the teasing fun at times, giving the album a depth that transcends nostalgic pastiche. READ MORE
ALL MUSIC.COM
Review of the latest CD release,
Josephine Baker – A Life of Le Jazz Hot!
June 19, 2007
By Stephen Eddins
The songs are a pure delight – the singer and players perform them with abandon and loads of flair. [The works] are attractive, inventive and skillfully scored, and are welcome additions to the repertoire for wind quintet, even though their virtuosic demands will probably limit their performance to the most experienced professional ensembles. READ MORE
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO –
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
Review of the latest CD release,
Josephine Baker – A Life of Le Jazz Hot!
and Feature Story
June 11, 2007
By Elizabeth Blair
IMANI WINDS HITS ITS MARK ON "JOSEPHINE BAKER"
If it's possible for a classically trained wind quintet to rock the house, Imani Winds blows the roof off. The five musicians came together 10 years ago with a common goal: To help change the face of classical music and show young people of color there's a place for them in all of the arts.
The members' collective experience is top notch, ranging from Juilliard and major orchestras to backing pop stars. They are relentless in their efforts to educate young people, particularly those in the inner city. Imani Winds also make some amazing music, as heard on Josephine Baker: A Life Of Le Jazz Hot!, a new CD of original music inspired by Baker's life. LISTEN HERE
NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Review of Josephine Baker – A Life of Le Jazz Hot!,
performed at the Apollo Theatre
June 7, 2007
By Herb Boyd
ANOTHER "DANCING WITH THE STARS"
The Imani Winds – Valerie Coleman (flute, piccolo), Toyin Spellman-Diaz (oboe), Mariam Adam (clarinets), Monica Ellis (bassoon and soprano saxophone), Jeff Scott (French horn) and Joseph Tompkins (drums) – is an ebullient ensemble, and their giddiness among themselves and between the period pieces spilled over into the often-peppy polyphony of their music. READ MORE
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