Leave it to Brad Mehldau; over 300 minutes of solo piano are presented here in formats of vinyl, digital and cd. But, since this is one of jazz’s most important pianists, even the concept of a collection of music performed…
Month: November 2015
A WHITE GUY ON BLUE NOTE?!?!? Gil Melle’: The Blue Note Years 1952-1956
If nothing else, the vintage years of Blue Note records was known for having the hardest swinging black musicians around. The first exception to the rule was when multi-instrumentalist and artist Gil Melle’ recorded a handful of sessions for the…
Jesus “Chuchito” Valdes: Horizontes
Pianist Chuchito Valdes could very well be the Cuban version of Oscar Peterson, here, with his team of Yosmel Montejo/b, Santiago san Tuiste/cong and Calixto Oviedo/dr, he mixes hard driving swing with irresistible Latin grooves. For a taste of his…
TRIOS FROM TUM…Barry Altschul’s 3 Dom Factor: Tales of the Unforeseen, Olavi Trio: Oh, La Vie!
Direct from Finland, TUM Records focuses on freer sounds on the jazz spectrum. Artists like Wadada Leo Smith, Milford Graves and Bill Laswell get deserved recognition, filling a needed niche. Here are two recent releases from Scandinavia. Drummer Barry Altschul…
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Symphonic Jazz Orchestra: Looking Forward, Looking Back
Once a great while ago, jazz was presented to the masses in symphonic form. That’s when Paul Whiteman’s orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke and Eddie Lang performed “Rhapsody In Blue” for the Gatsby crowd. Here, you’ve got the Symphonic Jazz Orchestrea…
WAYNE SHORTER’S RHYTHM…Perez-Patitucci-Blade: Children of the Light
If you’ve seen or heard Wayne Shorter the past decade, then you’re familiar with the jaw dropping flexibility and symbiotic and almost telepathic communication between Danilo Perez/p, John Patitucci/b and Brian Blade/dr. They’ve done projects on their own over the…
Gilad Atzom & The Orient House Ensemble: The Whistle Blower
Gilad Atzmon has one of the warmest sounds on sax and clarinet, and he milks it for all its worth on this wide ranging collection with Frank Harrison/p-key, Yaron Stavi/b, Chris Higginbottom/dr and guest vocalists Tali Atzmon with Antonio Feola.…
Josh Maxey: Celebration of Soul
Guitarist Josh Maxey teams up with Brian Charette/org, Rodney Jones/g, Chase Baird/sax, Jeremy Noller/dr and a collection of guest six stringers like Rodney Jones for some hip yet modern sounds here. A mix of electric guitar and Baird’s tenor sor…
Tom Teasley: Dreams of India
Impressively, Tom Teasley plays all instruments on this collection of a dozen Central Asian themes. Anyone who can master the bamboo flute, keyboards, melodic as well as they myriad of percussion instruments here deserves a tip of the hat. The…
Dorado Schmitt’s Django All Stars w/ Roger Kellaway@The Lobero 11-10-15
Until the past generation, people became jazz fans because it was the best music for dancing, and not listening to cacophonic solos.Guitarist Dorado Schmitt and his Django All Stars reminded the packed audience at the Lobero that the first distinction…