If you want to know the pulse and attitude of Los Angeles, two of your best options are eating at a Tommy’s Burger and listening to Mose Allison. As old as the reference in the Gettysburg Address (was he there…
Month: December 2015
Dukes of Dixieland: Live
If you can’t ever make it to the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the next best alternative is to get a recording like this. Here, you’ve got the Dukes of Dixieland revving up at the 2015 Fest. The…
Morton Feldman/John Cage/Erik Satie: Rothko Chapel
You’ve got a bit of mix and match here with piano, strings and voices delivering modern sounds and spaces. Sarah Rothberg lets her piano delve into the Erik Satie songbook, and delivers some rich interpretations three “Gnossienne” conceptions and a…
Dan Kaufman: Familiar Places
Dan Kaufman plays the piano and Hammond B3 as he leads a band of Johnathan Blake/dr, Matt Clohesy/b, Gilad Hekselman/g, Sam Sadigursky/sax and Keita Ogawa/perc through eight accessible post bop originals. Kaufman’s got a gently trickling touch on the piano,…
YELLOWJACKETS REUNION? Principles Sound: Lost in the Jungle
If you miss recent releases by The Yellowjackets, have no fear!Guitarist Dario Chiazzolino brings back together Jimmy Haslip/b, Russell Ferrante/p-key and Bob Mintzer along with Giani Branca/d and Pino D’eri/b on this highly hip album of bopping contemporary sounds. Sleek…
Creative Music Studio: Archive Selections Volume 2
This 3 disc set is a wide ranging sampler that shows the width and depth of the Planet Arts label. The discs are divided into “Small Ensembles,” “Large Ensembles” and “World Music” and there is something for everyone here on…
Amp Trio: M(y)our World
Addison Frei/p, Matt Young/dr and P errin Grace/b make up the well conversed Amp Trio, and show a lot of dexterity and interplay on this collection of originals. Frei has a lyrical touch and is able to dance around Grace’s…
THE MOTOWN HEART OF JAZZ: Detroit Jazz City
Here’s a tribute to one of the unheralded centers of jazz, good old Detroit. Material ranging from vintage 60s to present day are represented here. Who’s going to argue with an album that includes Joe Henderson’s classic “Mode For Joe,”…
LATIN LOVES…Cunao: Sangre Y Arena, Grupo Fantasma: Problemas
Here are a pair of albums with the sounds brewing from south of the border. The LA –based band Cunao consists of Julio Montero/g-voc, Gabriel Ramirez/vio-perc-voc, Severin Behnen/acc-key-voc, Craig Shields/perc-xyl-voc and Josel Cruz/b-voc. Since there is no drummer, the sound…
Patty Farmer: Playboy Swings
So, first Playboy announces that they are discontinuing putting nude pictures in their magazine. Now, author Patty Farmer puts out a book chronicling Hugh Hefner’s commitment to jazz. What’s next, Barbi Benton singing at the Blue Whale? Truth be told,…