Category: Reviews

Silvano Monasterios: The River

Venezuelan composer and pianist Silvano Monasterios brings together a rich sounding nonet of Troy Roberts/ts, Nestor Torres/fl, Alex Norris/tp-fh, Jeff Lederer/bcl-cl, Ricky Rodriguez/b, Luisito Quintero/perc, Jimmy MacBride/dr and Juan Diego Villalobos/vib for suite-like collection of originals. The focus here is…

Kim Waters: Time 2 Groove

Playing tenor, soprano and mostly alto sax, Kim Waters rides a longboard of whitecapped waves on this album of originals. He’s teamed with a funkified mix of Chris Davis/key-prog, Bernd Schenhart/g and vocalist Raynard Gibson, while supplying just about every…

Christian Larumbe: Refugio

Guitarist and vocalist Christian Larumbe brings the best of North and South America together in this latest release, as his trio of bassist Kitt Lyles and drummer Gustavo Cortinas explore Latin American musical landscapes with modern jazz sensibilities, with each…

Tony Adamo: Dig What I Say

Bay Area soul brother Tony Adamo mixes street savvy and jazz preaching on this latest single. Like a funkified Dave Frishberg, he raps out references and lyrics to a sizzling percussion section, pulpit hitting tenor sax and magma hitting B3…

Jon Balke: Skrifum

What is a “Spektrafon”? Well, you’re going to find out on this album with John Blake, as he uses it to accompany his piano for 14 of his “solo” compositions. The electronic doo dad gives an eerie background to reflective…

Billy Hart Quartet: Just

Drum legend Billy Hart teams with vets Mark Turner/ts, Ethan Iverson/p and Ben Street/b for a classy collection of originals. Each musician, a leader in their own rights, give a team effort here, with Iverson in a Mozartian mood before…