Singer/Songwriter Joanna Wallfisch mixes and matches moods, telling stories like a minstrel on this latest album. She plays flute, piano, Wurlitzer an dukulele, joining with Jesse Elder/key, Pablo Menares/b, Kenneth Salters/dr, Elias Meister/g, Jared Engel/banj and Wayne Tucker/tp. She can…
Month: May 2018
Rob Clearfield: Wherever You’re Starting From
Pianist Rob Clearfield delivers a solo album of his own material mixed with some thoughtful interpretations. His touch is warm with a mix of romanticism and impressionism. Dashes of Debussy lights and shadows are felt on “Prologue” and “Epilogue” with…
Roberta Donnay & The Prohibition Mob Band: My Heart Belongs to Satchmo
Best known for her association with neo-troubadour Dan Hicks, vocalist Roberta Donnay has carved out her own niche, delving into pre-swing era material with her band of John R. Burr/p, Sam Bevan/b, Sheldon Brown/cl, Rich Armstrong/tp-ct, Mike Rinta/tb and Matt …
Dave Liebman, Tatsuya Nakatani & Adam Rudolph: The Unknowable
David Liebman goes his most esoteric to date on this trio album with Tatsuya Nakatani/dr-perc and Adam Rudolph, who plays things like slit drum, thumb piano, sinti, mbuti harp and “live electronic processing.” Liebman, along with the usual tenor and…
The Mica Bethea Big Band: Suite Theory
UNF grad Mica Bethea brings the songs and charts along with a swinging 18 piece band for an eclectic and enjoyable set. The sections know how to swing, as the brass and reeds are peppy for solos by Ray Callender/tp…
REED RAPTURE…Peter Kuhn Trio: Intention, Peter Kuhn: Dependent Origination
Peter Kuhn plays clarinet, bass clarinet and tenor sax in a completely different pair of situations on these free range recordings. Sticking to clarinet and bass clarinet in a trio format, Kuhn joins with Kyle Motl/b and Nathan Hubbard for…
Noa Fort: No World Between Us
Vocalist and pianist Noa Fort keeps it intimate and simple on this album with Zack Lober/b, Ronen Itzik/dr and Josh Deutsch/tp on this collection of (mostly) her own material. Her voice is clear and crystalline, calm and patient on the…
Gong Expresso: Decadence
The name of the group and title of this album made me jump to the conclusion that I was about to hear some heavy metal thunder. Boy, was I wrong! The team of Julien Sandiford/g, Hansford Rowe/b, Benoit Moerlen/vib-mar and…
Owen Broder: Heritage
Subtitled “The American Roots Project,” this album has Owen Broder bringing together songs from America’s musical tradition and mixing nostalgia and modern moods. While playing woodwinds, he brings together Sara Caswell/vi, Scott Wendholt/tp-fh, Nick Finzer/tb, James ship/vib-perc, Frank Kimbrough/p, Jay…
JOEY DEFRANCESCO: DRIVING CRAZY WITH VAN
SOMETIMES, AN ARTIST WILL SURPRISE YOU. ORGANMEISTER JOEY DEFRANCESCO IS THE UNDISPUTED MASTER OF THE HAMMOND B3, HAVING DISPLAYED HIS VIRTUOSITY UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MILES DAVIS AND JOHN MCLAUGHLIN AS WELL AS RELEASING AN OLYMPUS OF A CATALOGUE, INCLUDING…