Friday night at Catalina’s, bassist and singer Richard Bona gave the packed house a concert evidenced by his West African culture. Unlike Americans, who worship the “now” and “present”, Bona comes from a worldview that sees his life as a…
Month: October 2023
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Chris Botti: Volume 1
Trumpeter Chris Botti returns to his first love, mellow mainstream jazz, on this surprisingly satisfying session. He brought in the best of the best for support, including Joshua Bell/vi, Taylor Eigsti/p, Gilad Hekselman/g and Vinnie Colaiuta/dr for mix of open…
The Santiago Big Band & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Santiago Brooklyn Santiago
A summit meeting between the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra led by pianist Arturo O’Farrill and The Santiago Big Band from Cuba, featuring pianist Marcos A. Fernandez, results in an exciting and sizzling collection of sounds and pulses. Things open up…
PLAYING ONE COMPOSER…Synergy: Bobby Kapp Plays The Music of Richard Sussman, Techno-Cats: The Music Of Gregg Hill
Groups doing songs by one man with a pen… Drummer Bobby Kapp brings together Zach Brock/vi, Aaron Irwin/cl-bcl, Abraham Burton/ts, John Clark/fhorn, Richard Sussman/p and Harvie S/b for an ensemble conducted by Scott Reeves to interpret tunes by the well…
Michael Echaniz/Rebiralost: Seven Shades of Violet
Playing piano, B3 andvarious keyboards, Michael Echaniz leads a core team of Jeff Denson/b-voc, Dillon Vado/dr-perc and vocalists Molly Pease-Daniel Wertz through a mix of post bop instrumentals and poppish vocals pieces. Of the former, Wertz teams u for the…
Brandon Sanders: Compton’s Finest
Drummer Brandon Sanders exposes a soulful boppers heart on this gorgeous album with the irresistibly foggy tenor sax of Chris Lewis, along with Keith Brown/p, Warren Wolf/vib and Eric Wheeler/b. Just to make things even better, supreme singer Jazzmeia Horn…
GUITAR TIMES..Vin Venezia: The Venetian
Playing electric, baritone, nylon, synth and acoustic guitars, Vin Venezia creates a multitude of sounds and frames with Harvie S/b, Richie Morales/dr, David Budway/p, and Danny Walsh-Bob Magnuson/ts. He shows an affinity for Miles Davis here, sounding upbeat on “Solar”,…
Koppel-Colley–Blade: Perspective
On this album with bassist Scott Colley and alto saxist Benjamin Koppel, drummer Brian Blade lands somewhere between his trapeze work without a net when associated with the late great Wayne Shorter, and the more folksy bucolic material of his…
Jack Jones Featuring Joey DeFrancesco: Art Work
In what is possibly his last recorded work, Joey DeFrancesco is magisterial is support of legendary vocalist Jack Jones on this John Clayton-produced last testament. Jones, one of the most talented vocalists of the 60s and 70s, has a more…
The Bix Centennial All Stars: Celebrating Bix!
I remember when this 2003 tribute to the late great Bix Beiderbecke initially came out. It was a festive salute to the man who, along with Louis Armstrong, essentially invented the jazz trumpet before succumbing at a way too young…