Here’s a guitarist that has some nice sounds and mixes them into an accessible groove. Blake Aaron leans towards the “smooth” side of jazz, but he can make it sound nice and musicular. He teams up with Rob Mullins/key, Hussain…
Month: June 2015
A FORGOTTEN MAVERICK…Don Ellis: How Time Passes & New Ideas
Trumpeter Don Ellis’ star shot brightly and quickly. He only lived 44 years, made a BIG impact at the time of his recordings (even composing for the movie The French Connection) and then died of a heart failure. At the…
GEMS FROM AVID…Count Basie, Big . Bill Broonzy Classic Box Set, Yusef Lateef: Four Classic Albums Plus, Randy Weston: Four Classic Albums Plus Vol. 2
The great thing about the AVID reissue label is that they are able to bring back into focus either artists or albums that you had forgotten about. Lately they’ve been emphasizing Randy Weston and Yusef Lateef, and they continue that…
Michael Oien: And Now
Here’s a bass player that you may not be familiar with, but he makes a mark here on this disc that mixes the tradition with forward thinking. Michael Oien teams up with Matthew Stevens/g, Nick Videen/as, Jamie Reynolds/p and Eric…
DW3: Vintage Truth
The label of the cd gives away the allegiance of this band; dead center is a “filler” for a 45rmp record. That’s what you used to need when you bought “singles” back in the day. DW3 stands for Eric Mondragon/g…
The Dave Miller Trio with Rebecca Dumaine: The Consequence of You
Very rarely do you see the vocalist not the leader in a band, but here it’s the “trio” of dave Miller/p, Mario Suraci/b Bill Belasco/dr and guitarist Brad Buethe that fronts vocalist Rebecca Dumaine through a series of standards. Dumaine…
TRIOS FROM ECM…Gary Peacock: Now This, Giovanni Guidi Trio: This Is The Day
I’m willing to bet if you created a pie chart of the type of albums released by ECM records, the piano/bass/drum trio would take the largest piece. Here are two recent ones that are vintage in sound and approach. Gary…
JAZZ’S TORCH BEARER? Robert Glasper: Covered
Of all the “younger” jazz artists out there, Robert Glasper has the strongest credentials to be the one to bridge the gap between aging “purists” and the millennial hipsters/urbanites. His bonafides include stints with Nnenna Freelon and Roy Hargrove, but…
MORE WONDERFUL REISSURES FROM MPS…Stephane Grappelli & The Diz Dizley Trio: Violinspiration, Jim Hall: It’s Nice To Be With You, The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine: Remembrance, Joe Pass Intercontinental
The German label MPS has been reissuing some wonderful albums from the 70s and 80s. Here are four that show how excellent music never sounds dated, only timeless. Violinist Stephane Grappelli’s 70s working tieam of Diz Disley/g, Ike Isaacs/g and…
Ku-Umba Frank Lacy & Mingus Big Band: Mingus Sings
Thought you’ve heard every way Charles Mingus can be interpreted? Think again! Frank Lacy brings together a collection of tunes written by Charles Mingus and then uses his sandied, leathered and fervent voice to deliver the pieces with lyrics written…