I’m still not sure yet if Vardan Ovsepian is a master musician or chef. I’ve seen him over half a dozen times, and I’ve never been served the same meal by this concoctor of musical meals. Solo, trio, duets with…
Month: May 2014
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Freddie Bryant: Dreamscape-Solo, Duo, Trio
Here’s a winner that you can take to the bank. Freddie Bryant takes four types of guitars, ranging from 12 string to arch top, to electric and nylon, and then mixes and matches with Chris Potter/bcl-ts-ss, Scott Colley/b and guests…
Christian Jacob: Beautiful Jazz
While he might be better known as the pianist in The Tierney Sutton Band, Christian Jacob has made some impressive music on his own. His latest release is from an intimate concert at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles in 2013,…
The North: Slow Down (This Isn’t The Mainland)
Hawaiian locals Romain Collin/p, shawn Conley/b and Abe Lagrimas/dr form an impressive interactive trio that displays flowing originals and clever takes of covers. Of the latter, Monk’s “Light Blue” has an enjoyable peg leg to its rhythm, while Chick Corea…
Yvonnick Prene & Padam Swing: Wonderful World
Yvonnick Prene specializes in the chromatic harmonica and makes it swing with the gypsy-styled band Padam swing on this mix of originals and jazz standards. Homages the Django Reinhardt are felt on the joyful takes of “Coquette” and bohemian “La…
Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey: Going Back Home
Here are a couple of old timers that have a few things to teach this current generation of hipsters. Wilko Johnson, guitarist for Dr. Feelgood, teams up with Roger Daltrey from the who, and together get raucous and bluesy on…
The Moment: Live At The Blue Whale
Vocalist Cathy Segal-Garcia is featured on this fresh, free and elastic session at the hip LA club The Blue Whale. The lithe team of Jeff richman/g, Gary Fukushima/ep, Brad Dutz/perc and Chuck Manning/ts (not to denigrate the visuals credited to…
The Puppeteers: The Puppeteers
The quartet Arturo O’Farrill/p, Bill Ware/vib, Alex Blake/b and Jaime Affoumado/dr joing together for some swinging and simpatico sounds on this release. Everyone writes material here, and the moods range from exciting cookers as on “Dreams ofDad” and “To Whom”…
Henrik Otto Donner & TUMO: And It Happened…
Want some fresh and exciting big band charts? Here’s some from a guy you may never have even heard of before. Scandinavian Henrik Otto Donner (1939-2013) was a well known composer in his own country. This collection of his writings…
Juhani Aaltonen: To Future Memories
Juhani Aaltonen plays tenor sax and flute as he reads a team of Iro Haarla/p-hp, Ulf Krokfors/b, Ville Herrala/b, Reino Laine/dr and Tatu Ronkko/perc through seven originals. His thick and crusty tenor broods on p ieces such as “Riminiscence” and…