Trust me, you’re going to like this one. I sniffed my nose when I first heard of it as well. Then I saw him in concert playing this stuff and not only does he play it, but he plays like…
Month: February 2015
Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: Rare ‘Live’ Recordings 1952-3
Just about anything that is released by Duke Ellington is worth hearing, but this 3 disc set is important in that it covers a period of Ellingtonia that is rarely heard; when Hodges and others left the venerable band to…
Christian Finger: Ananda
Drummer Christian finger puts together an album that would never make you think a guy behind the traps is behind the concept. First, a couple of the tunes feature a Bartok-like Mivos String Quartet which does some wonderful brooding on…
SINGER-SONGWRITERS…Suzanne Jarvie: Spiral Road, David Corley, Available Light
Today’s singer-songwriters could be tomorrow’s Joni Mitchell or Randy Newman; someone who writes material that is picked up by a jazzer and suddenly making everyone wonder “of course! Why didn’t we appreciate him/her before?”Here are a couple new arrivals. Suzanne…
Manuel Valera and New Cuban Express: In Motion
Here’s a album that mixes modern sounds with spiced salsa. Pianist/keyboardist Manuel Valera leads a snappy team of Yosvany Terry/as-ss, Tom Guarna/g, Alex Sipiagin/tp-fh, Hans Glawischnig/b Ludwig Afonso/dr and Mauricia Herrera/perc through some exciting originals here. Lots of bopping themes…
James Farm: City Folk
The co-op band James Farm consists of all stars Joshua Redman/ts-ss, Aaron Parks/p, Matt Penman/b and Eric Harland/dr; all artists who lead their own bands, yet get together occasionally for these recordings. Like most All Star games, there is no…
SEARCHING FOR NEW LANDS…Ju: Ju Meets Moster, Mole Trio: RGB
What is considered “new” these days. In the classic book Applied Imagination, writer Alex Osborne puts forth that what is “original” is essentially taking ideas that have been done before, and simply re-arranging them a bit. So, what you have…
Roberta Flack@Wengler Center Pepperdine 02.06.15
Sometimes, you just get so far off target in life, that you forget what the normal standard of something should be. We’re bombarded by synthetic and thunderous sounds, misogynistic and angry lyrics and nothing that is sung with a sense…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Spok Frevo Orquestra: Ninho de Vespa
This music is NUTS! And I LOVE IT! The title of the album literally means “Wasps’ Nest” and that is not only the description of the sound, but of the energy that is emitted from this lead and arranged by…
Judi Silvano: My Dance
Vocalist Judi Silvano has always looked for the most creative atmospheres in which to use her voice, best known for her work with Joe Lovano on Rush Hour a number of years ago, she uses her creative spirit in a…