Guitarist Rafiq Bhatia simultaneously releases a full length cd and an ep of new material with his teammates Jeremy Viner/woowinds, Jackson Hill/b and Alex Ritz/dr. Guests Vijay Iyer, Billy Hart, High Priest and Shahzad Ismaily make cameos here and there…
Month: February 2013
THERE’S AVANT, AND THERE’S AVANT-Barry Romberg’s Random Access Part 1& 2: Crab People, Henry Threadgill Zooid: Tomorrow Sunny/The Revelry,Spp
Some people can go “out there” musically and make it work, others just go out there, and you may just not want them to come back. Drummer Barry Romberg leads a team of musicians that includes Ben Monder/g, Rich Brown/b…
Robben Ford@Catalina’s 02.07.13
Look, he founded the Yellowjackets, toured with Miles and has played with George Harrison and Joni Mitchell, but when you come right down to it, what guitarist Robben Ford is REALLY all about is the blues, and that’s what he’s…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Bob Arthurs & Steve Lamattina: Jazz For Svetlana
Here is the most unassuming of sessions, and yet it works amazingly well. Trumpeter Bob Arthurs is a teacher at the Music Conservatory of Westchester, having played with guys like Coryell, Farlow, Marsh and Konitz. Mattina is a fellow faculty…
HOLD ON TIGHT! John Tchicai: John Tchicai, Karl 2000: Karl 2000
Here are a pair of releases that will rattle your cage a bit. Maybe for the better, or not, but that’s for you to decide. John Tchicai (who just recently departed to his eternal reward in Oct 2012) was a…
Weather Report: The Columbia Albums 1971-1975-Wayne Shorter then…
Was it really that long ago that the last REALLY creative and original music in jazz came around? Here we’ve got in one cozy boxed set the first 6 albums that the fusion group Weather Report put together. Essentially an…
…and Wayne Shorter Now: Wayne Shorter: Without A Net
I’m sure that just about everyone that’s a jazz fan has had their “Wayne Shorter Phase;” an attraction to one of the creative periods of the 80 year old composer, band leader, and saxophonist. For myself, I got hooked onto…
ESSENTIAL REISSUES FROM AVID-Vic Dickenson: Five Classic Albums Plus,Bud Freeman: Four Classic Albums Plus, Lee Konitz: Four Classic Albums Plus
It’s a labor of love keeping up with the conveyor belt of 2 cd reissues put out by the UK-based Avid Records. They just continually churn out some wonderfully obscure music from the 40s and 50s that makes mince meat…
MODERN JAZZ CREATIVITY-Jeff Babko: Crux, Scott Healy Ensemble: Hudson City Suite
Here are a pair of releases that reflect a modern attitude towards jazz. Both are lead by pianists/keyboardists, but you wouldn’t know it by listening, as each guy avoids the spotlight, keeping an attitude of team effort throughout their performance…
INTERNATIONAL SOUNDS-Johannes Linstead: Tales of a Gypsy, Saffron: Dawning, Putumayo: Presents World Yoga
If you’re looking for something besides 8 to the bar rhythms or a collection of the Great American Songbook, here is a trio of releases from a couple different continents Guitarist Johannes Linstead has got some incredible gypsy chops, and…