When I lived in Italy, I was always fascinated by the fact that all of the pasta dishes that I ate consisted of relatively simple fare: a basic tomato sauce, some basil, a dash of pepper and salt, and that…
Month: October 2012
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Jazz Soul Seven: Impressions of Curtis Mayfield
Here’s a great concept for an album, and even better yet, they didn’t blow it. Jazz Soul Seven is made up of (mostly LA) jazz stars Terri Lyne Carrington, Russ Ferrante, Master Henry Gibson, Bob Hurst, Wallace Roney, Phil Upchurch…
THE BEST ALBUM GETZ NEVER RECORDED: Spike Robinson: Very Live in Boulder, Colorado
After listening to this disc, I was going to create a new trophy, and call it the “Melchizadek Award.” For those of you who didn’t go to Sunday School, Melchizadek was this guy who came out of absolutely nowhere, meets…
Steep Canyon Rangers: Nobody Knows You
Back when I was a kid, bluegrass meant Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff and a lot of pickin’ and grinnin’ with gap toothed harmonies. Now, there’s this style called “New Bluegrass” or “Deja Bluegrass,” which is typified by groups…
Allan Harris & Takana Miyamoto: Convergence
It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to do a tribute to an icon pair of sessions, but that’s what vocalist Allan Harris and pianist Takana Miyamoto have done in saluting the famed summit meeting between Tony Bennett and Bill…
Posi-Tones: Jared Gold: Golden Child, Tom Tallitsch: Heads or Tales, Spike Wilner: La Tendresse
Here are three recent releases by the tiny P osi-Tone label, a company that must have an incredible piano and B3 in their studio, as almost all of their records feature someone behind the keys. Hammond B3er Jared Gold is…
Florian Hoefner Group: Songs Without Words
Pianist Florian Hoefner leads a quartet with Mike Ruby/ts-ss, Sam Anning/b and Peter Kronreif/dr through a collection of well thought original compositions on this release. Hoefner’s touch and heart seem to lean towards classical romantic, with a serenading flow to…
Mobtown Modern Big Band: The Re-(W)Rite of Spring
Back in the 40s, when Swing was King, big band leader Woody Herman collaborated with famous modern classical composer Igor Stravinsky and attempted to meld the best of both genres, producing Ebony Concerto. The problem with that piece back then,…
Connie Evingson: Sweet Happy Life
OK, so there are a gazillion songbooks by vocalists for the likes of Porter, Gershwin, Mercer, Porter and Berlin, but I’ve got to tell you, I’ve never seen a singer spotlight Norman Gimbel. WHO? That was my first thought as…
David Bixler: The Nearest Exit May Be Inside Your Head
Alto saxist/composer David Bixler keeps his heart in the post-bop jazz side of things here, leading a pianoless quintet with John Hart/g, Scott Wendholdt/tp, Ugonna Okegwo/b and Andy Watson/dr. There is a healthy mix of arranged melodies and interplay and…