What first comes to your mind when you think of Minnesota? You betcha! Lots of Scandinavians, jello salads (ugh), blonds (ok), the Vikings (hmm) and lutefisk (OOH BOY!). But this state which houses the Twin Cities of St. Paul and…
Month: June 2015
Ellen Johnson: Form & Formless
Ya know what the problem is with most female singers? They either sound like they’re taking up a second career by re-hashing The Great American Songbook, or they try to sound ultra artsy by going avant garde and filling a…
Svend Asmussen: Embraceable
One thing you’ve gotta love about violinist Svend Asmussen; he’s in love with swinging and he’s got a sound that is completely personal. On this collection from a 1985 Paris recording, Asmussen teams up with Georgew Arvanitas/p, Patrice Caratini/b and…
Glostrup Trioen & Alice Carreri: Spirit
Vocalist Alice Carreri teams up with the Glostrup Trioen team of Torben Kjaer/p, Hernrik Dhyrbye/b and Ole Streenberg/dr along with guest tenor saxist Tomas Franck for a collection of tunes that mixes the spaciousness of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue…
OOH MY SOUL! Little Richard: Directly From My Heart
This 3 disc set is a retrospective of the music that a young gent by the name of Richard Penniman made from 1955-1965 that transformed music into what we now call “rock and roll.” When he changed his music style…
AXE GRINDERS…Guitar Heroes: Making History
Here’s a gig I wish I had attended. At the 2013 Vancouver Island MusicFest, guitar giants Albert Lee, James Burton, Amos Garrett and David Wilcox got on stage with Lee’s regular touring band of Jon Greathouse/key, Will MacGregor/g and Jason…
Joshua Breakstone: 2nd Avenue
Last year guitarist Joshua Breakstone released a hip little quartet album included a cello in the mix. He returns to that winning formula with Lisle Atkinson/b, Andy Watson/dr and Mike Richmond/cello on a collection of originals and cleverly selected standards…
Raphael Imbert & Karol Beffa: Libres
Pianist Karol Beffa teams up with saxist Raphael Imbert for a collection of improves and sketches here. There’s some honey’d soprano and dainty piano on”Sweet Eternity” while “Solstice” shows a bit more growling on the alto sax and rumbling piano.…
DJANGO MOVES TO ROMANIA! Taraf de Haidouks: Of Lovers, Gamblers and Parachute Skirts
You think that Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France has the market on gypsy jazz? Get a load of this band from Romania. Here, you’ve got a nine piece band that includes violins, reeds, accordions, bass and cymbalum…
Vincent Herring: Night and Day
Smoke Sessons is quickly becoming one of my favorite labels. They specialize in concert recordings from NYC, and each one so far has been a hummer. This one by hard bopping alto saxist Vincent Herring is no exception. He’s fronting…