In case you haven’t noticed, there is a plethora of jazz vocalists out there. So, how do you distinguish yourself? Stay tuned. Antoinette Montague comes up with the clever idea of taking church-related songs and waking them up a bit…
Month: July 2015
John Clark: The Odd Couple Quintet +1
Here’s a delivery of jazz that you don’t get that often. Outside of Julius Watkins, no one has really taken the French Horn and tried it in jazz. Here, not only does John Clark bring the brass instrument back in…
AN ANSWER TO BLASPHEMY…Vince Guaraldi Trio: Peanut’s Greatest Hits
I just saw the preview for the brand new Peanuts movie. Did I really hear The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly” as the theme/background music? I mean, ROCK music?!? By a British band?!? Singing about “teenage wasteland” when the characters are in…
Lazlo Gardony: Life In Real Time
Performed in concert at the Berklee Performance Center, this album is led and produced by pianist Laszlo Gardony as he leads a 3, count ‘em, three sax front line that rotates Don Braden, Bill Pierce and Stan Strickland. The rhythm…
David Benoit w/ Jane Monheit: 2 In Love
Pianist/composer David Benoit spotlights Jane Monheit’s charming voice in a variety of intimate and cozy settings on this recent collaboration. The team of Benoit with Pat Kelly/g, David Hughes/b, Jemay tate/dr and Lauren Kosty/perc create the most poppish and upbeat moods…
ROCKIN’ THE BLUES: Christian Collin: Spirit of the Blues, Phil Collen: Delta Deep
Plug in, kick back and let it roll! Christian Collin sings and plays the guitar like a-ringin’ a bell on this collection of verified blues originals with a core team of Alex Evans/b, Chris Morrow/dr, Johnny Uguana/B3 and Jen Williams/voc.…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK***Bill Evans: The Complete Fantasy Recordings
One of the great things about legendary pianist Bill Evans is that it’s easy to break down his career in terms of record labels. He “made his name” on Riverside, became a household name on Verve and then ended his…
TWO SIDES OF THE LATIN QUARTER…Edsel Gomez: Road to Udaipur, Nils Fischer & Timbazo: Rumberos A Monton
How do you like your Latin music? With just a hint of flavor or an entire platter? Here are a pair of servings. Pianist Edsel Gomez mixes and matches jazz trios with a rotating team of horns, strings and rhythm…
Justin Rothberg Group: Old Business
Judging by the feel of the tunes provided by guitarist Justin Rothberg, the title must refer to the old business of funk, as there’s plenty of it here. When he teams up with Todd Groves/sax-fl-mel, Hiroyuki Matsuura/dr, Andy O’Neill/perc-dr and…
Steve Slagle & Bill O’Connell: The Power of Two
Steve Slagle and Bill O’Connell show their jazz vet virtues on this collection of duets that is reminiscent of the classic encounter between Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond way back when. They even do a tune by Brubeck, with “The…