It’s rare these days that a band stays together as long as Branford Marsalis has kept this team in sync. Not since the days of Phil Woods’ long time team of Tom Harrell, Bill Goodwin, Hal Galper and Steve Gilmore…
Author: George W. Harris
Matt “The Rattlesnake” Lesch: Blues Cut Like Glass
Guitarist Matt Lesch brews the blues, mixing and matching with Taylor Streiff-Wayne Sharp-Sean McDonald/org. Paul Niehaus IV-Tecora Morgan-John Davies-Gus Thornton-b, Chuck Louden-Riley Morgan/dr and a horn section of Dan Smith/tp, Ben Shafer/ts and Ian Buschmann/bs. The core quartet boogies on…
Michael Arbenz, Florian Arbenz, Ron Carter: The Alpine Session
At 87 years young, Maestro Ron Carter continues to be both the most recorded and respected bassist around. This recent outing is a treat, as he’s recorded with drummer Florian Arbenz and pianist Michael Arbenz for a mix of originals…
Jim Snidero: Bird Feathers
I’ve been following the career of alto saxist Jim Snidero since his days with Toshiko Akiyoshi’s Jazz Orchesstra, and he never disappoints. He’s always reliable for delivering a hip bop album, featuring his golden tone for music that has history…
Richard Baratta: Looking Back
Drummer and leader Richard Baratta takes on Baby Boomer rock hits of the 60s and 70s and gives them a Latin goose on this new release. Teamed with Bill O’Connell/p-key, Vincent Herring/as, Paul Bollenback/g, Michael Goetz/g and PauL Rossman/cong-perc, he…
Jon Dalton: Carousel
Singing, playing a variety of guitars and keyboards, Jon Dalton comes across as a latter day Kenny Rankin, sometimes swinging, sometimes delivering folksy ideas on this wide ranging album. He’s definitely got the swing feel down on guitar, gorgeous on…
Gina Saputo: Daydream
I first heard vocalist Gina Saputo many years ago with pianist George Kahn, and was impressed by her expressiveness of lyrics. She has only matured in that manner, sounding street wise like Carmen McRae yet also as strong as a…
Murray Kinsley & Wicked Grin: Eye Of The Storm
The blues are rocked by vocalist and singer Murray Kinsley, teamed with Laura Greenberg/b, Dave Tettmar/dr and guests Steve Mariner/harp, Jesse O’Brien/key and Zeek Gross/horns. The team gets into a STAX mood with the horns on the boogalooing “Hold On”…
DAVE KOZ: A JUST KOZ
LET’S BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES. WE ALL WANT TO BE ACCEPTED AND ‘LIKED’ BY OTHERS. DON’T SOCIAL MEDIA SITES LIKE INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK PROVE THAT POINT. SO WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU FIND OUT YOU DON’T FIT IN? DO…
DANNY JANKLOW: SWINGING IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
YES, THERE IS A JAZZ SCENE IN LOS ANGELES, AND I HOPE YOU’RE APPRECIATING IT IF YOU KEEP YOUR FINGER ON THE PULSE OF THE LOCAL SCENE, YOU’RE GOING TO START NOTICING THAT ALTO SAXIST DANNY JANKLOW’S NAME KEEPS POPPING…