The title of keyboardist/composer Chris Campbell’s latest release comes from Aristotle’s famous teaching. Using that theme, Campbell brings together a collection of artists that use instruments from all over the creative map, mixing and matching genres and creating a sound…
Month: April 2014
New Study Guide…Don Stiernberg: Jazz Mandolin Appetizers
It seems that the mandolin is getting a lot of popularity within the jazz realm. Don Stiernberg, who’s released a number of sessions on his own, has put together a first rate book/cd via Mel Bay to get past the…
Daniel Szabo/Peter Erskine/Edwin Livingston: A Song From There
Pianist/composer Daniel Szabo trios up with bassist Edwin Livingston and drum icon Peter Erskine for a fresh collection of originals that mix melody with intuitive interplay. Szabo has a wonderful control of dynamics here, going to infinitesimally small sounds on…
Eli Degibri: Twelve
Eli Degibri has a “throwback” sound on his tenor: rich, thick with early morning fog that burns off in the afternoon. He fronts a quartet with Gadi Lehavi/p, Barak Mori/b and Ofri Nehemya/dr through a mix of standards and clever…
Amy Cervini: Jazz Country, Carmen Cuesta: Toda Una VIda…
Here are a pair of female vocalists that say a lot by understatement. Amy Cervini released an impressive tribute to Blossom Dearie last year; this one takes a bit of different direction in that she mixes country and jazz sensibilities…
James Brandon Lewis: Divine Travels
If you like the fire-intensity of Ivo Pereleman’s tenor, this guy is right up your alley. Tenor saxist James Brandon Lewis fronts a trio with William Parker/b and Gerald Cleaver/dr, both Pereleman alumni, and mixes outside with bop and blues,…
AVID REISSUES FOR THE AGES…John Coltrane: Four Classic Albums, Cecil Taylor: Three Classic Albums Plus, Lee Wiley: Four Classic Albums Plus, Jimmy Witherspoon: Four Classic Albums Plus
Blues, bop ballads and beyond are all part of the catalogue from the reissue kings at Avid Records. They cover the waterfront from standards to extra-terrestrial here. If you know nothing about John Coltrane, and don’t know where to start,…
Regina Carter: Southern Comfort
Violinist Regina Carter has used her instrument to investigate Motown, African Folk and Classical Folk as well as straightahead jazz. This time out, she reaches back into the songbook of her grandfather’s era, with material that reaches to folk music…
The Bad Plus: The Rite of Spring
Yes, the Bad Plus ventures into 20th Century classical music with nary a tongue in cheek. They take on Stravinksky’s famous Rite of Spring, and do it as legit as their sensibilities take them. Yes, there are moments of swing…
A Real Cohiba…Pedro Luis Ferrer: Final
If you want your Cuban music to feel like you’re in the village instead of the nightclub, Pedro Luis Ferrer is your guy. He makes the Buena Vista Social Club seem like a bunch of city slickers on this collection…