Consisting of Oliver Lake/as-ss, Graham Haynes/cornet, Joe Fonda/b and Barry Altschul/dr and using their first names to form the title, the OGJB quartet sounds like a return to the early days of Ornette Coleman’s legendary 1959 Change of the Century…
Month: June 2019
EVERY BREATH THEY TOOK…The Police: Everyone Stares
It’s rare that someone has the vision to capture a band of artists at their fledgling stage, but drummer Stewart Copeland was able to do exactly that. Back in 1978, just as his band of Andy Summers and Sting were…
Brad Mehldau: Finding Gabriel
This is the first time since 2007’s Largo that Brad Mehldau has stepped out of his usual trio format for a larger ensemble. For this episode, he adds voices by Becca Stevens and Gabriel Kahane (along with is own) as…
Chris Greene Quartet: playSPACE
Chicago-based saxist Chris Greene leads a muscular band of Damian Espinosa/p-key, Marc Piane/b and Steve Corley/dr-perc through a collection of assertive originals plus a cover. Greene’s tone is filled with grit and swagger, blowing out with declaration on “Blues For…
Jazz Street Boys: Jazz En Stock
The quartet of Dominic Desjardins/voc-bj-g, Jerome Dupuis-Cloutier/tp-key, Sylvain Delisie/b and Jonathan Gagne/dr make up the mix of trad and modern Jazz Street Boys. On this 6 song ep, they mix concert and studio sounds. The latter has Dupuis-Cloutier’s trumpet moaning…
Putumayo Presents: Acoustic Women
Women from all around the globe feature their singing and composing skills on this latest Putumayo release. As with most wonderful music, bossa nova is on the horizon, and Fernanda Cunha is gloriously nasal on “Amanheceu” while Elle & Elles…
Seth MacFarlane: Once In Awhile
Actor and crooner Seth MacFarlane takes the next logical step in his singing career with a bel canto collection of torch songs with strings, woodwinds and brass. The “Dream Team” Orchestra handles the standards par excellence, as does MacFarlane, giving…
Jay Anderson: Deepscape
Bassist Jay Anderson creates rich textures with his team of Billy Drewes/as-ss-bcl, Kirk Knuffke/ct, Matt Wilson/dr, Frank Kimbrough/harm and Rogerio Boccato/perc. The atmosphere is high on rich harmonies and pastoral settings, creating a meditative mood on ”Rothko Chapel” featuring Drewes’…
The Forty Fours: Twist The Knife
A filling plate of the blues is served up by guitarist and vocalist Johnny Main, teamed with harpist Eric Von Herzen, bass player Mike Hightower, drummer Gary Ferguson and lead guitar man Junior Watson. They show a deep affinity for…
Jeff Pifher and the Socrates’ Trial: Alternative Futures Past Realities
Tenor saxist Jeff Pifher melds his band Socrates’ Trial consisting of Colin Cook/g, Misha Bigos/p, Nick Campbell/b, Corey Coverstone/dr and Ian Wurff/perc with an orchestra of strings, vocals and horns conducted by Harlan Hodges on this rich and ambitiously accessible…