Last year, guitarist Dave Stryker put out a smoking album that revisited Baby Boomer hits. He continues the winning idea, with an exchange of Steve Nelson’s vibes replacing the tenor sax. Jared Gold’s Hammond and McClenty Hunter’s drums make for…
Month: November 2016
DUETS…Natalie Cressman & Mike Bono: Etchings in Amber, Luis Salcedo & Susana Pineda: Opaluna
Male guitar and female voice; different approaches and moods. Acoustic guitarist Mike Bono composes and performs the music, while Natalie Cressman delivers the lyrics (and some of the tunes) on this intimate album. The lyrics come off as poems, as…
ROOTS OF SWING…Isham Jones Rainbow Orchestra: Happy
Illinois-based Archeophone Records continues to release historically important reissues from the earliest days of recordings. This one features the music of the overlooked but important bandleader Isham Jones. His most famous compositions were “(You’re) In the Army Now”, “There is…
REGGAE GOT SOUL…Gary Nesta Pine: Revelations, Fluid Foundation: Fluid Foundation
It’s easy to discern why Gary “Nesta” Pine has been on the reggae scene since the late 80s. Unlike most present day artists, he’s got a bona fide sound in his band of Devon Bradshaw-Basil Cunningham, Ian Coleman/g, Courtney Diedrick/dr…
Cameron Mizell: Negative Spaces
Guitarist Cameron Mizell creates soft and shadowy atmospheres with his band of Brad Whitley/key and Kenneth Salters/dr. Some of the songs come off as instrumental indie tunes, such as “Echoing, Echoing” and “Big Trees” while when he loosens up the…
Geen Ess: Absurdist Theater
Guitarist Gene Ess has put together a clever album of pastoral combinations of his own compositions. He brings together Manuel Valera/p-key, Yasushi Nakamura/b and Clarence Penn/dr for the instrumentation, but the winning addition is the voice of Thana Alexa, who…
Shirantha Beddage: Momentum
Toronto-based baritone saxist Shirantha Beddage delivers a thick and rich tone in combination with David Restivo/p-key, Mike Downes-Rich Brown/b and Mark Kelso-Will Kennedy/dr. The band is able to deliver a New Orleans-ish funky groove on the bluesy “Pork Chop” while…
Mn’JAM Experiment: Live With A Boom
Lots of hip hop beats and synthetic percussion fills this cd/dvd. The urban vocals by Melissa Olivera are supported by the visuals/electronics/turntables of Jam, and a team of Tuur Moens/dr, Jose Carlos Barbosa/b, Virxilio Da Silva/g, Miguel Amaral/pg and Joris…
Orrin Evans: #knowingishalfthebattle
Orrin Evans brings a guitar-laden team to the Sear Sound Studio for a “live in studio” album. He teams his piano and Rhodes with Kurt Rosenwinkel and Kevin Eubanks for a mix and match with Caleb Curtis/sax-fl, M’Balia/voc, Luques Curtis/b…
Michael Kaeshammer: No Filter
Michael Keashammer gets nice and rootsy on this album of his own compositions. He sings, plays a ton of keyboards and gets into a nice bluesy mood with Devon Henderson/g, Roger Travassos/dr-perc and a horn section of William Sperandei/tp, Chris…