Tenor saxist Eric Alexander has one of the best beefy sounds around these days. He surrounds himself with some kindred spirits in Harold Mabern/p, John Webber/b and Joe Farnsweorth/dr with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt joining in for a few tracks as…
Month: April 2014
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Tim Hegarty: Tribute
This album is supposed to be a tribute by tenor/soprano saxist Tim Hegarty to the likes of John Coltrane and Dexter Gordon, but for my money, as soon as you hear this guy’s bluesy/gospel sound, you’re going to flash right…
Tyrone Birkett/Emancipation: Postmodern Spirituals-The Promised Land
Saxophonist/keyboardist Tyrone Birkett puts together an ambitious project here with Paula Ralph Birkett/voc, Gregory Royals/key, Reggie Young/g andJason Patterson/dr. He’s composed and arranged a collection of modern and traditional spirituals, put them into a jazz/funk context and threw in some…
GUITAR MAN! Terrence Brewer: Mosaic, Historia
Looking for a new guitarist to discover? Here’s a guy from the Bay Area that might be your find. Terrence Brewster’s got a tensile tone, doesn’t waste a note, and has a healthy sense of swing and timing on these…
Alfredo Rodriguez: The Invasion Parade
Pianist Alfredo Rodriguez continues his path of combining together Cuban sounds and rhythms within the jazz idiom. This time around he takes a couple steps forward by going deep into the traditional folk sounds, and thereby including vocals by Esperanza…
Tri-Fi: Staring Into The Sun
Here’s some red meat for fans of the piano trio. Consisting of Matthew Fries/p, Phil Paolmbi/b and Keith Hall/dr, the Tri-Fi trio mixes the lyricism of Bill Evans with the joyful bounce of Gene Harris. All of the material here…
Eric Starr Group: Such is Life
Drummer Eric Starr leads this impressive group, and you can tell so right off. The first tune opens up with a muscular drum intro, and he also gives himself a spotlight for a couple minutes on another track. He doesn’t…
Danny Rivera/Nelson Gonzalez: Obsesion
Here’s some latin music that sounds completely unadulterated and unwatered down. Vocalist Danny Rivera joins forces with tres guitarist Nelson Gonzales on this collection of boleros that will get you either up on your feet dancing or on your knees…
Los Lobos: Si’ Se Puede!
How much do you want to bet that you didn’t know that this was actually Los Lobos’ debut disc back in 1976? Thought so! What happened was that back then TV producer Art Brambila wanted to give a tribute to…
Hannah Gill: Hannah Gill
This ep is the debut recording of a fresh sounding young lady named Hannah Gill. Her voice has a hint of the folksy bohemia of Melody Gardot, and she uses it in an eclectic setting with Brad Hammonds/g, Andrew Klein/b,…