Best known for his work with Pat Metheny, Paul Motian and Brad Mehldau, bassist Larry Grenadier breaks free from all of his bandmates and goes completely solo on this collection of songs and improvisations. He mixes approaches with bowing and…
Month: March 2019
Quisin Nachoff’s Flux: Path of Totality
Six tunes ranging from 6-19+ minutes are on this two disc collection from leader and saxist Quisin Nachoff, as he teams with David Binney/as-Cms, Matt Miethcell/p-key, Kenny Wollesen/dr-perc and Nate Wood/dr and a collection of guests. While the length of…
*****RINGER OF THE WEEK*****Jack Kilby and the Front Line: Love is a Song Anyone Can Sing
Drummer Jack Kilby creates a wonderful mosaic of sounds as he leads a swinging core hard bop team of Kris Monson/b, Allyn Johnson/p, John D’earth/tp, Charls Owens/ts and Elad Cohen/tb with creative interludes from a wide variety of guests. The…
Bill Jennings: The Complete Bill Jennings on Prestige with Brother Jack McDuff 1959-1960
Like ham and eggs, peanut butter and jelly or Bogie with Bacall, the guitar/Hammond combo is one of the wonders of Western Civilization. Bill Jennings (1919-1978) is considered one of the founding fathers of what came to be known as…
Fay Claasen & WDR Big Band: Dutch Songbook
Songs from Holland and beyond are given a jazz feel as rich toned vocalist Fay Claasen teams with the WDR Big Band for modern takes of songs from the Netherland. She sings in dutch on a bluesy “Aan De Amsterdamse…
Norman Johnson: The Art of Life
Norman Johnson plays guitar and just about anything else, particularly programming on this smooth and upbeat collection of R&B pulsed originals. His picking is clean with synthesized percussion on “Slide” and with Grason Hugh on vocal, the group is in…
Big Joe and the Dynaflows: Rockhouse Party
My dad’s old ’49 Buick boasted of “Dynaflow,” which meant that the two speed automatic transmission could easily change speeds. This album by drummer and singer Big Joe Maher along with Tom “Mookie” Brill/b-voc, Kevin McKendree/org, and Yates Kendree-Robert Frahm-Erin…
Michael Kocour: East of the Sun
Pianist Michael Kocour goes solo on this rich and classy collection wide ranging standards. His touch is clean, but his approach is calm and relaxed as he gently pulses out “East of the Sun” and a dreamy “Stardust.” His read…
Matt Savage Groove Experiment: Splash Variations
For his debut recording, Matt Savage uses his piano and keyboard to display impressive composing, arranging and leadership skills with a team including Aaron Gratzmiller/ts-ss, Michael Wang/tb-rec, Albino Mbie-Javier Rosario/g, James Heazlewood-Dale-Soso Gelovani/b, Juan Mejia/dr and Robbie Pate/voc. Pate’s rich…
Bob Baldwin: Presents Abbey Road and the Beatles
Soulful tributes to The Fab Four began with George Benson’s famed The Other Side of Abbey Road just months after that iconic album hit the streets. 50 years later, Bob Baldwin gives some CTI-flavored soul to Beatlemania, even bringing one…