Two labels that have been quiet for some time have started to get the dust off their shelves and join back into the music scene. Welcome back!
Chiaroscuro Records, once a mainstay of mainstream jazz, went into hibernation for about 1 ½ score years, but is out of the cave and roaring like a bear with this exciting release with Phil Woods and the Festival Orchestra. Except for “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” which features Najwa Parkins’ slluring vocals, and Johnny Mandel’s “Here’s To ALvy,” Woods wrote all the material here, which is mostly variations of familiar jazz tunes. For example, “Shiny Pants” has the Basie strut of “Shiny Stockings” and “And It Was Nowhere” is a lift from “Out of Nowhere.” You get the picture. Nevertheless, Woods, while sounding a bit brighter in tone with age (who, besides Hodges, didn’t?), he can still bop with the best, as he shows on the snapping “Bop’n Bob Don’t Stop” and the lovely “Hank Jones.” This type of music never sounds dated, and Woods is still able to impress after all these years.
Florida based Arbors Records went quiet after founder Matthew J. Domber passed away in 2012, leaving a void of mainstream jazz as well as a place for the likes of Harry Allen, Scott Hamilton, the Pizzarelli family and a slew of guitarists like Howard Alden. This session by trumpeter Bryan Shaw is a cool drink of water to a parched throat, as he leads a band with Dan Barrett/db, Evan Arntzen/reeds, Ehud Asherie/p, John Dominguez/b, Jeff Hamilton/dr and Brad Roth/g-banjo.
Fans of jazz with a two beat are going to be in hog heaven here, with danceable takes of “Love Me or Leave Me” and “Blue Room” fit for the dance floor. Shaw’s tone is as warm as a lava lamp, and Arnstzen has a wonderful breathy tone on tenor. What is encouraging about this disc as well is that while they have fun with music from Baseball’s Golden Age, they also enlist Roth to throw in a few originals, all of which, particularly “Song of Dreams” are fun and fragrant. It’s nice to hear music that wants to be enjoyed once again, and not a challenge to your sense of survival.
Chiaroscuro Records
Arbors Records