Omnivore Records continues to deliver previously inaccessible sessions from Art Pepper’s halcyon days of the early 80s. Due to contractual reasons, Pepper recorded these albums under the title of a featured guest along with his regular band, but here we…
Month: October 2017
SWING AND SOUL FROM AVID…Art Blakey: Four Classic Albums, Reverend Gary Davis: Three Classic Albums Plus Fats Domino: Five Classic Albums, , Max Roach: Four Classic Albums, Nina Simone: Four Classic Albums
Swinging soul comes in various forms on the latest cache of 2 cd releases from UK-based Avid Records The King of the Hard Bop quintet, drummer Art Blakey, is featured on four vintage sessions. His halcyon days start on the…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Harold Mabern: To Love and Be Loved
A timeless collection of songs put together by timeless minds and souls lead by veteran bopping pianist Harold Mabern make this album a comfort food for jazz aficionados. Mabern’s touch is warm and clean, filled with rich chords that can…
****VOCAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR?!?****PILGRIM’S PROGRESS…Lizz Wright: Grace
This is the album that Lizz Wright’s talents have always promised to make. It just took her long-life spiritual journey to have her reach the top of the hill. At this stage in her career, she has the both the…
ROCKABILLY! Gene Vincent: The Complete Singles As & Bs 1956-62
One of the major complaints I hear from older musicians is that few younger artists know how to swing anymore. They don’t mean like Benny Goodman; just being able to deliver a toe tapping beat. Gene Vincent, one of the…
MODERN BIG BAND SOUNDS…Alan Ferber Big Band: Jigsaw, Vince Mendoza: Homecoming, Dial & Oats/Rich DeRosa/The WDR Big Band: Rediscovered Ellington, John Beasley: Monk’estra Vol. 2
Big bands still have fresh things to say. Here are a handful of exciting albums… Alan Ferber composes and arranges all of the material on the six exciting pieces, which range from a Latin and brassy “Impulso” to a free…
Logan Strosahl Team: Book I of Arthur
If you’re looking for something beyond the Great American Songbook for inspiration, come back a few hundred years to the days of King Arthur with Logan Strosahl and his band. Strosahl plays alto sax and composes the pieces along with…
Uri Gurvich: Kinship
Stories from the Old Testament dominate this intriguing post-bop collection by Uri Gurvich, who plays alto and soprano sax as he leads a team of Leo Genovese/p, Peter Slavov/b and Francisco Mela/dr. His soprano delivers a modal Coltrane-ish read in…
HEAVY METAL JACKET…Band of Brothers: Band of Brothers
The core team of Brian Tarquin/g-b, Phil Naro/voc and Reggie Pryor/dr team up with a squad of guests and put together a heavy metal tribute to War Veterans, with proceeds partially delineated to the Fisher House, which gives housing to…
CHAMBER JAZZ…Paul Jones: Clean, Jamie Reynolds: Grey Mirror
Not all jazz is performed by those three guys Moe, Blow and Go. Here are a couple new releases that mix moments of swing and improvisation with chamber-styled harmonies and moods. Paul Jones has a rich and warm sound to…