Teamed with the formidable Ravi Coltrane on tenor and sopranino sax, trumpeter Ralph Alessi leads a quintet with Andy Milne, Drew Gress/b and Mark Ferber/dr through an intuitive and sepia-toned mood. Alessi is particularly elegiac on “Good Boy,” but he…
Month: February 2019
INTUITIVE MOODS…Karl Berger & Jason Kao Hwang: Conjure, Toh-Kichi: Baikamo, Silent Fires: Forests
Three albums that emphasize atmospheres and imaginations. Karl Berger plays vibes and piano, joined by Jason Kao Hwang on violin and viola for eight original conversations. On vibes, Berger contrasts with Hwang’s pungent strings on “ Silhouettes” and the two…
Bria Skonberg: So Is The Day
Fine. I’ll admit that I’m a “jazz sexist.” I get this cd, and on the jacket I see this cute blond (about my older daughter’s age) posing with her trumpet while looking into a sunset. First thought, “gotta be another…
Dewa Budjana: Mahandini
Guitarist Dewa Budjana is one guy I want to catch in concert. His albums are always exciting, complex and accessible. This one has him with a core team of Jordan Rudess/key, Marco Minnemann/dr, Mohnini Dey/b-voc and guests John Frusciante, Mike…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Etta Jones: A Soulful Sunday
General rule of thumb: if there’s a historical musical find by Zev Feldman, rush out and order it, as it’s an undiscovered gold nugget. This latest from Reel to Reel recordings (why not from Resonance?) features soulful jazz vocalist Etta…
Dan Aran: New York Family
Drummer Dan Aran leads a team of Itai Kriss/fl, Adam Birnbaum/p, Luke Sellick/b, Zafer Tawil/oud, Marcos Lopez/perc and Jainardo Batista/voc through a bopping mix of originals and jazz standards. The team hiply swings as Kriss floats to ¾ time on…
Sonar: Live At Moods
The team of David Torn on electric guitar and live looping, Stephan Thelan and Bernhard Wagner on tritone guitars, Christian Kuntner on tritone bass and Manuel Pasquinelli on drums get together for a concert at Zurich’s Moods Jazz Club back…
Shawn Mullins: Soul’s Core
This two disc set has singer/guitarist Shawn Mullins delivering the same songs in the same order on each disc, the only difference being that the first disc has the team of Tom Ryan/b-sax, Radoslav Lorkvic/key-acc, Davis Causy/g, Patrick Blanchard/g-mand, John…
Planet Radio: Stay Awake
The Planet Radio team of Carl Eisman/g-voc, Leah Randazzo/voc, Jeff D’Antona/key, Marke Zaleski/b-sax, Jon Bean/sax and Patrick Simard/dr-perc specialize in hip Oakland-styled funk and R&B. Randazzo has an earthy and street wise voice on the soulful “Voodo” and spacy “Spinning…
VINTAGE TRIO…David Hazeltine: The Time Is Now
One of the few labels that focuses on mainstream hard bop, Smoke Session Records delivers another vintage set with pianist David Hazeltine and his all star team of Ron Carter/b and Al Foster/dr. Hazeltine mixes and matches originals with some…