One of the major contributors to jazz has been musicians from the Jewish faith. Credit it to the call of the cantor, the rich minor chords of agony, or simply the swinging dance beat from songs like the Horah or…
Month: August 2017
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****PLEASE, SIR, MAY I HAVE SOME MORE? Bill Evans: Another Time-The Halversum Concert
Records like this make you wonder if producer Zev Feldman was in a Raymond Chandler novel, as he’s one of the great detectives in finding rare and important vintage jazz recordings. This latest discovery complements last year’s 2 disc set…
GOOD VIBES…Milt Jackson: The Early Years 1945-52
Along with Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson made the vibraphone a swinging instrument; in fact, he made it a BE-BOPPING instrument, advancing the swing era into the modern. This two cd set has Jackson in a wide variety of atmospheres, all…
Scenes: Destinations
The trio Scenes consists of cool-toned John Stowell/g, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop, and they bring together a collection of lithe originals and impressionistic jazz standards. Of the latter, Stowell exudes spaciousness and timber akin to vintage Jim…
PROG ROCK FOR THE 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN….Dusan Jevtovic: No Answer, Dialeto: Bartok in Rock, Machine Mass: Plays Hendrix
Initiated in the mid-70s, progressive rock, or fusion, has had seasons of ebbs and flows. Here are three recent releases that demonstrate the growth and vision of the genre. Guitarist Dusan Jetovic forms a trio with Vasil Hadzimanov/p-key-moog and Asaf…
Carlos Vega: Bird’s Up
Muscular-toned tenor saxist and composer Carlos Vega puts together a beefy post-bop quintet with Victor Garcia/tp-f, Stu Mindeman/p-key, Josh Ramos/b and Xavier Breaker/dr. He rotates between hip soul sounds with his Rhodes on pieces like the funky “On A Mission”…
Sophia Subbayya Vastek: Histories
Pianist Sophia Vastek mixes dreamy piano of modern classical tendencies with Southern Asia moods and harmonies on this album of her in solo form and with a few guests. She interprets a handful of John Cage compositions in solo format…
Kenny Shanker: The Witching Hour
Kenny Shanker has a rich and full sound on his alto sax as he brings some vintage hard bop to the table with some originals. Teamed with Mike Eckroth/p, Daisuke Abe/g, Yoshi Waki/b and Brian Fishler/dr, he drives with an…
Kyle Moti: Transmogrification
Bassist Kyle Moti delivers an entire album in solo bass for 15 songs ranging from 1-6 minutes. His goals is to “plumb the contrabass’ wealth of sonorities, pushing sound to its braking point and revealing the extremities of technique, timbre…
AMEN! The Sons of the Soul Revivers: Live!
You usually don’t associate Central California as a gospel mecca, but the Morgan Family of Dwayne, James and Walter bring on home some sweet soul music along with accompanists Jim Pugh/org, Thomas/g, DaQuantae Johnson/voc-b and Oliver Calloway/dr on this live…