Billed as a “historic concert merging jazz and classical music,” this PBS broadcast from Feb 28, 2014 includes a cd and dvd that mixes and matches classical, jazz and even a bit of folk. Top draw artists ranging from Bobby…
Month: April 2014
Billy Hart Quartet: One Is The Other
Teaming together again Mark Turner/ts, Ethan Iverson/p and Ben Street/b, drummer Billy Hart follows up on the previous All Our Reasons with a collection of originals that delivers subdued swing, blues, bop and post modern. A piece such as “Amethyst”…
Kris Bowers: Heroes & Misfits
I don’t know if he’s “the next big thing” a flash in the pan or somewhere in between. All I can tell you is that you can tell that keyboardist/composer Kris Bowers is trying. Mixing jazz and R&B, sometimes in…
JAZZ RED MEAT! The Paul Ayick Quintet: For G.A.
Miss the sounds of vintage hard bop that used to come from labels like Blue Note and Prestige? Here’s a trumpeter, Paul Ayick, that’s got the tone and swagger of Lee Morgan and he leads a classic quintet with Shay…
Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)
It’s been two score years since Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road put him over the top to make him a household name. This 4 cd/1 dvd boxed set has just about everything you’ll ever need, even including the actual…
Often Imitated, Never Duplicated…John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension: The Boston Record
Recorded in concert at the June 2013 Berklee Performance Center, this album by fusion founder John McLaughlin shows once again who the reigning champ of chops was, is and will be. He’s with the hard hitting team of Etienne M’Bappe/b,…
Diana Krall Glad Rag World Tour@CSUN 04-04-14
When she first stepped out in the early 90s, Diana Krall shifted the paradigm by bringing a younger audience back to the Great American Songbook and has influenced countless female vocalists in her wake. At this stage in her career,…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Shawn Maxwell: Shawn Maxwell’s Alliance
Here’s an exciting release out of The Windy City. Shawn Maxwell plays reeds and woodwinds while leading a creative non-ette that mixes intricate jazz with baroque fugue elements to end up with a unique-sounding force of nature. Besides the rhythm…
Lena Bloch: Feathery
The title of this disc is a perfect description of the tone from this tenor player. Russian born and Brooklyn residing Lena Bloch sounds like something out of the 50s cool school a la Warne Marsh, early Getz and Lee…
Tord Gustavsen Quartet: Extended Circle
I’ve seen pianist/composer Tord Gustavsen twice, once in the trio format, and also last year in a quartet promoting his album The Well. Here, he’s using the sax of Tore Brunborg along with the team of Mats Eilertsen/b and Jarle…