True confessions: I had lost interest in famed singer/songwriter Paul Simon decades ago, not because of his composing charms. In fact, Graceland is still one of the iconic rock albums of all time. Instead, I’ve always felt that Simon’s voice…
Month: October 2018
EYM Trio: Sadhana
Consisting of Elie Dufour/p, Marc Michel/dr and Yan Phayphet/b the EYM Trio takes its name from the first letter of each artist, and its musical direction from the flowing graces of Bill Evans. Soft strummed piano strings lead the way…
BLUES GROOVES, BOP VOCALS AND POP FROM AVID…Adam Faith: Three Classic Albums Plus, Ike Quebec: Four Classic Albums, Stanley Turrentine: Four Classic Albums, Jimmy Smith: Four Classic Albums, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross: Four Classic Albums.
Some rich grooves that go down nice and easy are featured on the latest group of releases from Avid, along with essential bop vocals and a forgotten pop singer Ike Quebec is one of the quintessential smoky tenors from the…
John Scofield’s Combo 66@TRK 10.18.18
Celebrating his 66th year on earth, (hence the band’s monicker), guitarist John Scofield showed the audience at the Theatre Raymond Kabbaz that he is at the stage of his career that he can bring in all of the influences from…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Andreas Varady: The Quest
You know a guy’s got potential if Quincy Jones is supporting him, and Andreas Varady doesn’t disappoint on this latest album. He works as more of a teammate than leader with his band including his dad Bandi on bass, brother…
Miguel Zenon: Yo Soy La Tradicion
Alto saxist and composer Miguel Zenon continues his delving into the music of his heritage, yet this time around teams his alto sax with the Spektral Quartet, featuring Clara Lyon/vi, Maeve Feinberg/vi, Doyle Armbrust/va and Russell Rolen/cel. Zenon wisely uses…
David Garfield: Jammin’ Outside the Box
In his second of his Outside the Box series, pianist/keyboardist David Garfield goes from grooving jazz to getting out into the soulful struts. He once again pulls out his iphone to call some of the biggest all stars, making it…
SOUNDS AND TEXTURES FROM AFAR…Bad Luck: Four, Phil Scarff: Ragas on Saxophone
Sometimes jazz is an attitude, looking for experimentation of ideas and sounds. Here are a couple examples The mix of Neil Welches sax and live electronics with Christopher Icasiano’s drums make for an intuitive mix of landscapes and colors on…
The Blue Dahlia Family: La Tradition Americaine
Musicians from all over the US and the world get together for this highly intriguing mix of sounds and cultures. Songwriter Dahlia Dumont from New York and Israel co lead with Daniel Alba and George Saenz and a Cecil B…
TRUMPET IN LEAD…John Pittman: Kinship, Samuel Martinelli featuring Claudio Roditi: Crossing Paths
Trumpets are out in front in quartet and quintet forms here. John Pittman has a classic, clean sound with a dash of Kenny Dorham sweetness. He teams with Shirantha/ts-bs, Jeff McLeod/p, Mike Downes/b and Curtis Nowosad/dr for some vintage sounds…