Here are a pair of albums by artists that are bringing composers of the past up to date in mood and arrangement. Vocalist Melbreeze takes the tried and true Antonio Jobim canon and puree’s it through the skilled production of…
Month: August 2018
Dave Damiani & The No Vacancy Orchestra: Bending the Standard-The Anthology
LA-based crooner Dave Damiani delivers a two disc set here with his all star Orchestra through cleverly arranged standards and his own fresh material. His big band is the pick of LA’s litter including “Graham Dechter/g, Peter Erskine/dr, Rickey Woodard/ts,…
POST MODERN MUSINGS…Yokada: Stillness & Sirens, Clay Harper: Bleak Beauty, Demian Coca: Paykuna
The Millennial Generation brings a different shade to the tradition of jazz, shown on these latest releases. Yokada, consisting of Alex Zethson/p, Johan Berthling/b and Johan Holmegard/dr deliver original compositions. The overall mood is of sepia tones, reflective and thoughtful…
ROOTSY! Liz Frame and the Kickers: Sparrow and the Shoebox, Steve Krase Band: Just Waitin’
Nothing like good ol’ Americana… Liz Frame comes across as a well traveled soul as she mixes folksy rock with some country with Patrick Chamberlin/g, Lynne Taylor/b, Pete Walsh/dr and guests Duke Levine, Tim Phillips, Pete Iannitto, Ken Clark and…
The Jazz Bakery’s Moveable Feast Presents: Yosvany Terry’s Afro-Cuban Quintet@Moss Theatre 08.04.18
As alto saxist and leader showed the audience at the Moss Theatre Saturday night, there is life beyond Dizzy Gillespie’s Afro Cuban jazz classic “Manteca” as Terry and his Quintet have taken the Afro Cuban sounds initially popularized by Gillespie…
Pretzel Logic @Vitello’s 08.03.18
As they demonstrated at Vitello’s Friday night, the thing that sets Pretzel Logic apart from other “tribute” bands is that leader and keyboardist Steve Chernove takes the music of Donald Fagen and Walter Brecker and use their tunes not as…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Gregory Generet & Richard Johnson: 2 of a Kind
Vocalist Gregory Generet co-leads a band with pianist Richard D. Johnson through a riveting collection of originals and standards. The team of Freddie Hendrix/tp (when is HIS next album coming out?), Jonathan Beshay/ts, Barry Step Henson/b and Henry Conerway III/dr…
THE JOYS OF DOO-WOP…The Del Vikings: The Del-Vikings Collection 1956-62
One of the most enjoyable, if not complicated, of the groups that were part of the doo wop/R&B genre was the Del Vikings, or the Del-Vikings, or the Dell-Vikings, or the… Even the name had various forms! The band itself,…
Valeria Matzner: Anima
Vocalist Valeria Matzner creates a rich mix of traditional and modern Latin sounds on this sensuously swinging album with her band of Scott Metcalfe/p-key, Scott Kemp/b, Max Senitt/dr and collection of guests Luis Deniz/sax, Alexander Brown/tp, Aleksander Gajic/vi, Juan Carlos…
Mark Winkler & Cherly Bentyne (or is it Cheryl Bentyne & Mark Winkler?): Eastern Standard Time
It’s rare to have a male/female vocal combo anymore, and even rarer to have one as good as the team of Cheryl Bentyne and Mark Winkler. They’ve been putting out great material on their own and together in album and…