Subtitled “The Music of Bernstein, Weill & Sondheim,” this disc features vocalist Deborah Shulman and trombonist Larry Zalkind delivering mature and intelligent readings of some jazz standards as well as a few Broadway pieces in a variety of well crafted…
Month: January 2013
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Jazzcraft Studio Recordings 1977-78 featuring Hugh Lawson & Richard Wyands
Here is a fantastic 2 cd set of a pair of blue collar pianists who worked day in and day out as reliable sidemen, just doing their job of accompanying some leader and providing reliably creative music. Never in the…
OVERLOOKED JAZZ GIANTS: James Spaulding: Plays the Legacy of Duke Ellington, John Stubblefield: Prelude
Back in the 1970s, when fusion was the king of the jazz universe, there were still a handful of guys that hung in there and stayed faithful to the traditional legacy of acoustic improvisation. Here, we’ve got two guys who…
MODERN HARD BOP- Joe Gilman: Relativity, Felipe Salles: Departure
Always loved it, always will: hard bop, small group style. Best with the combo of piano, bass, drums and a front line of tenor and trumpet, but I can slum it and have variations and even an extra instrument. The…
Joel Behrman: Steppin’ Back
Here’s a trumpet player with a heart of gold. Joel Behrman fronts a quartet here with Matt Clark/p, Marchus shelb/b and Howard Wiley/dr and an occasional added front line of Dayna Stephens/ts and Danny Armstrong/tb. On his own, he has…
JAZZ FROM HAIGHT-ASHBURY? Francisco Pais: Raise Your Vibration, Out To Lunch: No One Left Behind
So, dude, I just got back from driving up Highway 1 and spent a week at the Esalen Hot Springs retreat. I just went through some intense detox, got all my auras treated and went on a complete internal cleansing.…
FUN ON THE FRETS: International String Trio: Movie Night, Freddie Bryant + Kaleidoscope: Live Grooves…Epic Tales
If you want to see what the guitar is doing in the 21st Century, give an ear to these two releases. The international String Trio, consisting of Ben Powell/violin, Slava Tolstoy/g and Ippei Ichimaru/b takes a peak at some intriguing…
Todd Marcus: Inheritance
99 times out of a 100, when a guy plays the bass clarinet, he’s using it as a double for something else, such as with guys from Marcus Miller to Harry Carney to Eric Dolphy. Todd Marcus seems to be…
Akua Allrich: Live! Uniquely Standard
Here’s a vocalist I’ve never heard before, and this release of her singing in concert makes me want to delve deeper into her catalogue. Akua Allrich has a warm and sassy delivery, not unlike a young Aretha Franklin, and uses…
Roberta Donnay and the Prohibition Mob Band: A Little Sugar
Bay Area-based vocalist Roberta Donnay is best known for her work with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks; her solo releases, however, are impressive in their own right. Her voice is sort of a cross between a husky Betty Boop…