Blues singers like Trudy Lynne are the last of a breed that gave us ladies like Koko Taylor and Etta James; women who make you feel the sweat and blisters from each piece. None of the glamour and all of the grit.…
Month: January 2017
Parker Abbott Trio: Elevation
You get two keyboardists on this trio album. Teri Parker plays piano, Nord Electrio, MicroKorg, Mopho x4, Glockenspiel and Melodica. Simeon Abbott includes Piano, B3, Nord Electro, MicroKorg, Moog Sub Phatty and Microbrute while Mark Segger keeps everyone together with…
Gwendolyn Dease: Beguiled
Gwendolyn Dease shows that the marimba can be taken seriously as an instrument here as she takes seven pieces and teams up with various guests on this intriguing album. She goes solo on “Beija-flor”, taking the mallets and not giving…
The Awakening Orchestra: Atticus Live! The Music of Jesse Lewis
Guitarist Jesse Lewis teams up with The Awakening Orchestra conducted by Kyle Saulnier for an evocative concert that mixes orchestration, guitars and moods. The journey includes reflective strums and horns opening things up on “Looking Glass” before percussion starts things…
Zara McFarlane: Arise
Earth-toned vocalist and creative composer Zara McFarlane puts together a mix of folk and jazz on this embracing collection. Her rich and red clay voice works well as it weaves through African percussion and saxes on pieces like “Ode To…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Harry Allen’s All Star Saxophone Band: The Candy Men
It’s music like this that got me hooked on jazz. Swinging saxes, melding together, delivering hip solos and getting out in time before you lose attention. Warm toned tenor saxist Harry Allen gives a tribute to the Four Brothers Band…
Andrew Downing: Otterville
Cellist/composer Andrew Downing puts together two discs worth of pastoral sounds that mix jazz and chamber moods. Teamed with Tara Davidson/as, Michael Davidson/vib, Christine Bougie/stg, Paul Mathew/b, Nick Fraser/dr and guests Rebecca Hennessy/tp and William Carn/tb. The melding of ebullient…
THIS IS A TENOR SAX 101…Ben Webster & Dexter Gordon: Baden 1972
If you haven’t been alerted about the Naxos Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, you are missing out on some of the best sounds that have been unearthed from the mines. His one is Volume 10, and all you’ll say after…
Earprint: Endectomorph Music
The word ectomorphic means thin and spider-like, while endomorphic is a bit bulkier. The team of Tree Palmendo/tp, Kevin Sun/ts-cl, Simon Willson/b and Dor Herskovits/dr somehow try to bridge the two worlds with their chordless quartet. Most of the songs…
DJOYS OF DJANGO: Avalon Jazz Band: Je Suis Swing, The Hot Club of San Francisco: John, Paul George & Django
The irresistible gypsy sounds developed by Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grappelli are still alive and well, able to puree any song and style. Here are a couple new examples. The Avalon Jazz Band includes Tatiana Eva-Maria/voc, Adrien Chevalier/v, Olli Soikkeli-Vinny…