If you’re a hard bop fan in terms of music by Horace Silver or Art Blakey, you’re going to discover a friend in the obscure trumpeter Webster Young (1932-71). He played with the likes of Coltrane, Gordon, McLean and even…
Month: March 2025
Rachiel Therrien: Mi Hogar II
French-Canadian trumpeter Rachel Therrien continues her exploration of Latin Jazz like she was born and raised somewhere quite south of both the Canadian and US borders. She mixes and matches with pianists Manuel Valera/Danae Olano/Willy Soto Barreto/Andy Rubal and bassists…
HIP BOPPERS YOU HAVE OVERLOOKED…Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums-Prestige Jazz Quartet/Teo Macero With The Prestige Jazz Quartet, The Luis Rivera Sextet: Filet Of Soul/Las Vegas
In this day of Spotify or other apps telling you what you should be listening to, it’s easy to overlook valuable artists that are just under the radar. That is a niche that Fresh Sound records has filled, proving itself…
****HARD BOP VINYL REVIVAL***Miles Davis: The Musings of Miles/Walkin, Thelonious Monk: Monk Himself
If you go to a dictionary and look up the definition of ‘hard bop’, you’ll most certainly see a picture of either Miles Davis or Thelonious Monk, two of the members of it’s Mt Rushmore. Three absolutely classic sessions have…
Michael Lington: On The Scene
Alto saxist Michael Lington sports a strong alto on this five song ep of originals produce by guitarist Paul Brown. His sound is big and upbeat on pieces like “Dreamy Night” and the percussive “Just Sayin’” with the band getting…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****THIS IS A JAZZ GUITAR…Oscar Moore: The Enchanting Guitar of Oscar Moore-the 1945-1965 Years
If you ask any jazz fan who’s in the know who is the most underrated guitarist in jazz history, he or she should answer “Oscar Moore” if they know what they’re talking about. (The second most underrated is his brother…
Noel Okimoto: Ho ‘Ihi
Playing drums, percussion and melodic, Noel Okimoto delivers soulful modern jazz on this album of originals with Dean Taba/b, Tommy James/p-key, Allen Won/ts-as-ss-fl, Abe Lagrimas Jr/vib-uk, Haru Takauchi/g, DeShannon High/tp-fh and Michael Grande/ep. Taba’s electric bass is a plus here,…
LADY VOICES…Judy Wexler: No Wonder
LA-based vocalist Judy Wexler brings in some neighborhood friends for some classy reads of standards and obscurities. Wexler uses phrasing and nuance instead of chops and range to get her points across, and it works well teamed with Jeff Colella/p,…
Karl Latham: Living Standards II
Drummer Karl Latham repeats his successful re-imagining of rock tunes on this album with Mitch Stein/g, Wolfgang Lackerschmid/vib, Henry Hey/key, Mark Egan/b and Roger Squitero/perc. Egan is the anchor leg here, giving a hip pulse to “Break On Through” and…
Erik Jekabson: Breakthrough
Erik Jekabson plays trumpet and flugelhorn on an ambitious large ensemble’d album of originals. The 18 piece unit includes strings, woodwinds, brass, guitar and rhythm, and even some vocals on the easy swinger “A Speedway Meadow”. The strings add rich…