Guitarist Liberty Ellman creates a warm and flexible band, employing both Stephan Crump’s bass and Jose Davila’s tuba as foundations along with drummer Damon Reid to serve the variant rhythms. The front line of Ellman, Steve Lehman/as, Jonathan Finlayson/tp and…
Month: September 2015
Herb Alpert & Lani Hall@Pepperdine LSWC Center
“There’s something about a good melody and a lyric. You still remember it.” Thus was summarized the attitude, evening and career of Herb Alpert with his wife of 41 years Lani Hall at Pepperdine’s Center for the Arts on a…
MODERN FUSION…Black Violin: Stereotypes, Mother Falcon: Good Luck Have Fun
In these days when “fusion” is getting revived, a new type of melding of styles is hereby presented by a couple of releases from Universal Music Classics. Viola player Wil Baptiste and violinist Kev Marcusboth come from Florida, and have…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Lenny Hambro Quintet 1953-1957
I play the tenor sax, and the reason I never attempted playing the alto sax is because I realized I’d never sound like Johnny Hodges, since no other alto player seemed able to accomplish the feat. Most alto players get…
Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters: Father’s Day
If you want your blues shufflin’ to the boogie, get a hold of Ronnie Earl and his team of Lorne Entress/dr, Dave Limina/B3-p and Jim Mouradian/b. He can take you to the church with gospel blues on the jazz classic…
Robert Sabin: Humanity Part II
Bassist Robert Sabin brings together a rich palatte of sounds with a small big band which includes 2 saxes and five brass along with a pianoless rhythm section. Moody and thoughtful horns create a hint of Gil Evans on the…
Costas Baltazanis: End of Seas
Guitarist Costas Baltazanis brings forth an impressive post bop album that is filled with glowing moods. Composing all of the material, he brings together a band of Dan Brantigan/tp, Isamu McGregor/key, Panagiotis Andreou/b and Engin Gunaydin/dr along with a handful…
Dheepa Chari: Patchwork
Vocalist Dheepa Chari teams up with a flexible team of Lars Potteiger/key, Dan Asher/b, Mike DiRubio/ss-as, Danill Davydoff/viol and Vin Scialia/dr for a mix of originals and jazz standards. She’s got a clean and reedy voice and uses it well…
Bret Higgins: Atlas Revolt
Toronto-based bassist Bret Higgins brings together a hip team of Aleksander Gajic/vio, Robbie Grunwald/key, Tom Juhas/g and Joshua Van Tassel/dr for an old fashioned mix of what used to be called “instrumentals.” The songs are concise, accessible and still able…
Mem Nahadr: Femme Fractale
Here’s a unique and clever presentation by Mem Nahadr. Subtitled “An Opera Of Reflection,” this 11 piece album is a collection of “arias” that mixes elements of Pink Floyd with Monteverdi. Floating woodwinds and ethereal voices are found in “Forge…