Talking about searching for standards! Dave Soldier bases this 14 piece jazz-oriented opera on a score from 1425 BC Egypt. Ah! Those were the days! The musical journey features venerable Sun Ra veteran Marshall Allen along with a mix of…
Month: March 2017
Howard Johnson and Gravity: Testimony
Howard Johnson has built a reputation as one of the few artists able to bring the unwieldy tuba into the forefront of modal jazz. Here, he ups the ante with a front line of tuba-ists (in various keys) Velvet Brown,…
Brian Dickinson: The Rhythm Method
Canadian pianist Brian Dickinson leads an impressive ost bop band of Luis Deniz/as, Kelly Jefferson/ts, Neil Swainson/b and Ted Warren/dr through ten originals. It appears that the pianist/leader has an affinity for the Cool School sounds originated from Lennie Tristano,as…
TODAY’S HAVANA…Dayme’ Arocena: Cubafonia
Molasses toned vocalist Dayme; Arocena mixes both classic and modern Cuban sounds on this exciting and far ranging album. She’s toured with Jane Bunnett’s Spirits of Havana, and is always a show stealer, and her own albums have been exciting…
Ani Cordero: Querido Mundo
Ani Cordero mixes songs of love, protest and politics as well as sounds ranging from indie to traditional Latin on this latest album. She plays guitar, keyboards and percussion as she sings with a sensuous voice along with Erich Hubner/g-b,…
A BOPPER! Nick Travis; How About You?
A first rate trumpeter, Nick Travis served his time as a sideman for the likes of BennY Goodman, Woody Herman and Gerry Mulligan. He recorded only one album as a leader, The Panic Is On from 1954, and it’s the…
WHO LET HER OUT OF THE CAGE?!? Joan Shaw: A Retrospective 1947-1964
Here’s a lady that you’ll want to get to know. Joan Shaw (aka Salena Jones b. 1930) sang and toured with such notables as King Curtis, Cab Calloway, Big Maybelle and Louis Armstrong. She had a career as an R&B…
THE CHOPIN OF JAZZ… The Bill Evans Trio: On A Monday Evening
This album has “Historical Album of the Year” written all over it, and for good reason. Recorded in concert during a Madison, Wisconsin gig on November 15, 1976, this 8 song collection from Bill Evans’ trio with Eddie Gomez/b and…
AH! ELLINGTONIA!!! Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows Vol. 23, The Intimate Piano Session
No matter how much music you have from Duke Ellington, it’s just never enough. These two latest editions from Storyville Records demonstrate why. It’s sad but true; Volume 23 of The Treasury Shows means that there are only two more …
WHEN IT WAS HEP TO BE HIP…Bobby Darin & Johnny Mercer: Two of a Kind
One of the classic male vocal duet albums has been reissued by Omnivore Recordings, and it serves to show how style, class and swing transcend generations and genres. Back in 1961, the ultra hip Bobby Darin (who was reputed to…