In the mid 1950s, proto-bopping pianist Thelonious Monk and West Coast cool baritone saxist Gerry Mulligan were at the height of their powers and popularity, with both getting publicity such as getting on the cover of TIME magazine. This “summit”…
Category: It Doesn’t Go Anywhere
THE KING OF JAZZ…The Paul Whiteman Orchestra: Volume 1-The Hits Collection 1920-27, Volulme 2. 1928-54
One of the oldest arguments in music is whether Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) was the “inventor” or “king” of jazz, as he was crowned during his lifetime. Fans of Jelly Roll Morton , King Oliver or Buddy Bolden may argue, and…
Leon Alvarado: The Changing Tide
Playing drums, keyboards and effects, Leon Alvarado mixes and matches with Edoardo/g, Damian Darlington/slg, Tony Franklin/b, Pablo Hopenhayn/vi-va-cel, John Helliwell/sax and Jeff Sanson/voc for a progressive erock sound similar to Yes and Pink Floyd. Alavardo and Sansons voice ad a…
DELTA BLUES…Tommy McClennan and Robert Petway: Shake ‘Em On Down-Collected Recordings 1939-42
Two representatives of Depression Era Delta Blues are represented on this two disc, 50 song anthology. 75 percent of the music is led by Tommy McClennan (1905-61), with the rest being filled by one of his regular associates Robert Petway…
April Aloisio & Joanie Pallatto: April & Joani Sing!
Creative vocals taking everything on from Bossa to Beatles takes place on this inspiring album featuring the voices of April Aloisio and Joani Pallatto. The ladies mix harmonies and solos in fascinating fashion, with Pallatto’s alto a perfect match and…
Koppel-Blade-Koppel: Time Again
The threesome of Benjamin Koppel/as, Brian Blade/dr and Anders Koppel/org team up for a wide ranging collection of ideas even including some rap on this recent release. Of the latter idea, Al Agami gets down and urban on the earthy…
Christine Jensen: Day Moon
Christine Jensen goes post bop here playing alto and soprano saxes with her rhythm team of Steve Amirault/p, Adrian Vedady/b and Jim Doxas/dr through an album of originals. The release is dominated by a four part “Quiescence Suite” that has…
The Baseball Project: Grand Slam Time!
An album dedicated to baseball is simply a brilliant idea, with Peter Buck/g, Scott McCaughey/g-key, Mike Mills/b, Linda Pitman/dr, and Steve Wynn/g-voc rocking through the various aspects of The National Pastime. The band has a mix of Tom Petty and…
Flamenco Passion: A Tribute to Paco De Lucia
Exciting Andalusian sounds are brought to the fore by Poul Jacek Knudsen/g-claps, Mikkel Nordso/g, Bjarke Falgren/vi, Mathias Heise/harm, Nicolai Land/b, Anders Pederson/perc-caj and Juan Murube/jalco/clap on this m usical salute to guitar legend Paco De Lucia. The intoxicating claps ,…
Christian Artmann: The Middle Of Life
Christian Artmann plays a variety of domestic and exotic flutes with his team of Laszlo Gardony /p, John Lockwood/b, Yoron Israel/dr and guest vocalist Elena McEntire for a collection of mostly originals. His alto flute is elegant on “Sow River”…