Molasses toned vocalist Phyllis Blanford delivers a rich read of standards with a peppy team of Ted Brancato/key, Denny Davis/b, Winard Harper/dr, Don Braden/wwinds, Vic Juris/g, Mayra Casales/perc, James Gibbs/tp, Vincent Gardner/tb, Jason Jackson/tp and Stefon Harris/vib. She makes some…
Month: June 2016
70s FM? The Steepwater Band: Shake Your Faith, Steve Hill: Solo Recordings Volume 3
Here’s some rock and blues that make you think it’s the mid 70s again. The band Steepwater consists of Jeff Massey/voc-g, Eric Saylors/g, Tod Bowers/b and Joe Winters/dr with Jim Wirt guesting on organ and harmony vocals. For this album,…
Markus Stockhausen/Florian Weber: Alba
Here is a gorgeous collection of lyrical duets brought together by Florian Weber on the piano alongside Markus Stockhausen, who switches effortlessly between trumpet and flugelhorn. Romantic melodies predominate as Stockhausen’s rich toned flugelhorn glows on “Mondtraum” or his trumpet…
Masabumi Kikuchi: Black Orpheus
If you’re looking for something akin to Tom Jobim at the piano revisiting the songs from the ground breaking Brazilian movie, you’ll need to look somewhere else. Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi gives hints and tangential references to these themes at…
THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN! Debo Band: Ere Gobez, Jeff Lederer: Brooklyn Blowhards, Samson Y Hiss: Circus Screams
Whether it’s Ringling Brothers or Circus Vargas, there’s a certain mood and sound when the three rings and the big tent come to your town. Here are three albums that sound like it’s time for the popcorn, cotton candy and…
Taylor Cook: The Cook Book
Taylor cook prepares meals on alto sax, flute and clarinet here with a core group of chefs in Jack Bodkin/key, Brandon Wall/g Justin Gray/b and Robin Claxton for a full menu of accessible jazz. The team delivers an easy blue …
GATOR’S GOT YER GRANNY…Tony Joe White: Rain Crow
I don’t think there’s a person alive who’s ever heard Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie” and didn’t immediately make it a guilty pleasure. Back when it came out 2 score plus years ago, White was considered to be Elvis…
Branford Marsalis Quartet with Kurt Elling: Upward Spiral
If nothing else, Kurt Elling is adventurous. The good thing is that there is something else besides his sense of adventure. Here, he teams up with Branford Marsalis’ team of Joey Calderazzo/p, Eric Revis/b and Justin Faulkner/dr for a rich…
Marty Elkins: Walkin’ By The River
Some ladies just sound like fun; Marty Elkins is one of them. She teams up with a frisky team of Jon-Erik Kellso/tp, Howard Alden/g, Joel Diamond/B3, Steve Ash/p, Lee Hudson/b and Taro Okamoto/dr for a swinging and carefree collection of…
Peter Kuhn-Dave Sewelson-Gerald Cleaver-Larry Roland: Our Earth/Our World
Here are three ferociously free songs from the pianoless team of Peter Kuhn/as-ts-cl, Dave Sewelson/bs, sss, Larry Roland/b and Gerald Cleaver/dr. Almost an hour’s worth of music is delivered from three songs, so hang on tight, it’s going to be…