What Do Darcy James Argue, Ken Vandermark and I Have in Common? More Cowbell!

Cowbell Magazine, Sept. 2010

I’m thrilled and honored to be featured in an article in Cowbell Magazine about DIY Jazz musicians alongside such heavyweights as Darcy James Argue and Ken Vandermark. If you aren’t familiar with these cats, you should follow the links and get familiar! Argue put out one of the finest albums of 2009 with his big band Secret Society, called “Infernal Machines”, which won numerous awards from the likes of Downbeat Magazine, The Jazz Journalists Association and the Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll. Vandermark is a saxophonist who has released numerous critically acclaimed albums and won such prestigious awards as a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and a selection to the “25 For The Future” list of the most important improvising musicians under 40 from Downbeat Magazine. I’m humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as these incredible musicians.

The article was written by Phil Freeman, who I’ve gotten to know on Twitter. Phil was kind enough to include my CD “No More, No Less” (which you can listen to while you read this by clicking the play button to your left) in his 31 Days of Album Reviews for Burning Ambulance back in May. Phil also writes for the Village Voice and The Wire, and wrote a wonderful book about musicians and their roles in art, culture and society called Sound Levels: Profiles in American Music, 2002-2009.

Here’s the article in it’s entirety, complete with a photo of the JPQ by my lovely wife. Click to enlarge, then click again if you want it even bigger.

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