Guitarist Kenneth Meyer takes you on a six-stringed journey with modern composers James Piorkowski, Edie Hill, Kevin Ernste, Hans Werne Henze, Jesse Jones and Nicolas Scherzinger. Most of the pieces are multi-part suites, with each part a concise unit all…
Month: August 2017
Tal Cohen: Gentle Giants
Pianist Tal Cohen leads an exciting post bop quintet which includes all star alto saxist Greg Osby as well as an impressive lineup of Jamie Oehlers/ts, Robert Hurst/b and Nate Winn/dr through a collection of originals plus a cover. Of…
Shea Welsh: Arrival
Guitarist Shea Welsh is an instructor at the USC Thornton School of Music, and this album makes me want to take a class by him, as he delivers an impressive and flexible collection of tunes. He’s got a gorgeous tone,…
CORYELL’S SWAN SONG? Dylan Taylor: On In Mind
This may be the last recording that iconic guitarist Larry Coryell made, and he went out swinging in style. Bassist/cellist Dylan Taylor leads the trio with fellow famed drummer Mike Clark on this highly satisfying mix of originals and a…
Tryyo: Flying Box
Here’s a trio for the unorthodox; trombonist Michael Vlatkovich gets together with cellist Jonathan Golove and drummer Damon Shor for a Decalogue of originals. The team has a Mingusy feel, mixing loose post bop with gut level swing and blues.…
CO-EXIST! Jocelyn Medina: Common Ground
Vocalist and composer Jocelyn Medina mixes messages of universal unity with a voice of richness in a jazz context on this album of Bodhi tree’d themes. This recording that has her with a team of Steve Gorn & Hadar Noiberg/fl,…
FREE AND LOOSE…Anemone: A Wing Dissolved In Light, Klaus Treuheit & Lou Grassi:Port of Call, Prism Quartet: Color Theory
More along the lines of emphasizing interpretation over structure, these three releases focus on interplay and freedom. The band Anemone consists of Peter Evans/tp, John Butcher/ts-ss, Frederic Blondy/p, Clayton Thomas/b and Paul Lovens/dr. Together they produce a two part composition …
50s AND 60s SOUNDS FROM AVID…Lavern Baker: Four Classic Albums, James Moody: Four Classic Albums, Horace Silver: Four Classic Albums, Dakota Stanton Staton: Five Classic Albums, Bobby Vee: Four Classic Albums
Popular music had some intriguing genres in the 50s and 60s. Here are 5 recent 2 cd sets from UK that show the highs and lows of the era. The late 50s was the apotheosis for R&B singers like LaVern…
Tony Adamo: Rain Man
I usually don’t review singles, but Tony Adamo is just so good to the bones that nothing he does can be ignored. Here, he teams up with Tower of Power keyboardist Roger Smith and with a team that is so…
ROOTS…Peter Himmelman: There Is No Calamity, Delta Wires: Born In Oakland, Brother Neil: Away Avenue Away…
Rootsy rock and R&B for the new millennium… From Minnesota’s tundra, LA-based Peter Himmelman comes across like a 70s singer-songwriter as he teams up with Matt Thompson/b, Scott Tipping/g, Jeff Victor/key, Jimi Englund/perc and Chuck Lacy/dr along with a trio…