Ladies at the mic… Vocalist Greta Matassa has a hint of Carmen McRae’s tone in her voice as she sings with richness and wanderlust on this collection of standards. Teamed with Darin Clendenin/p, Clipper Anderson/b, Mark Ivester/dr and Alexey Nikolaev/sax,…
Month: August 2019
Nick DePinna: Nexus Music Volume 1
This 3 song ep has composer/trombonist Nick DePinna lead a 13 member “big” small band through some clever charts and themes. The horn section has a nice punch, while the rhythm team of Tim Lefebre/b, Jake Reed/dr and Ross Garren/key…
Oddarrang: Hypermetros
Olavi Louhivuori plays drums and synthesizers composing most of the material here that includes support by Osmo Ikonen/cello-synth, Ilmari Phohola/tb-synth, Lasse Lindgren/b-synth and Lasse Sakara/g. The focus is on textures and landscapes, with brooding trombone and cello on the elegiac…
Ezra Weiss Big Band: We Limit Not The Truth Of God
A collection of messages from a father to his children is delivered musically by composer/conductor Ezra Weiss. Heartfelt chats about politics, policy and the future are interspersed and woven into the Coplandesque arrangements delivered by the 17 piece unit. Serene …
MODAL, SOUL VOICE AND ROCKABILLY FROM AVID…Miles Davis: Three Classic Albums Plus, Nancy Wilson: Four Classic Albums Plus, Conway Twitty: Four Classic Albums Plus
Vintage sounds from an era that expanded musical boundaries. It could be easily argued that the albums on this 2 disc set represent the apotheosis of Miles Davis’ career, and that’s saying something. 1958’s Milestones had him putting his toe…
Larry Wolf: Mood Swings
Best known as a character actor, Larry Wolf plays various roles as a vocalist on this wide ranging Old School album teaming with a collection of Adrianne Duncan/p-voc, Jason Luckett/g-harp, John Tegmeyer/cl, Edwin Livingston/b, Dan Schnelle/dr and guest vocalists Nancy…
George Thorogood & The Destroyers @ The Ventura County Fair 08.08.19
“Somebody stop me!” Such was the joyful shout from blues rocking guitarist as he threw out serving after serving of red meat guitar solos and licks to the ravenous crowd at the Ventura County Fair this warm Thursday night. One…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Tiziano Bianchi (featuring Bill Frisell) : Relate
Blessed with a warm Chet Baker of a tone, trumpeter Tiziano Bianchi creates some clever jazz landscapes as he also plays synthesizer, flugelhorn and even adds his voice to a wonderous album teamed with pianist-keyboardist Claudio ignali, cellist Enrico Ferri…
BET’CHA NEVER HEARD OF…THE BEST VOICES TIME FORGOT Rocky Cole: Smooth & Rocky, Deno Kannes: The Kid From Salt Lake City
Here’s another edition of the prized BEST VOICES TIME FORGOT series by Fresh Sound Records. This one has Singer/pianist Rocky Cole, teaming with an orchestra conducted and arranged by tenor saxist Al Cohn, who recreates Woody Herman’s “Four Brothers” sax…
Eliane Elias: Love Stories
Eliane Elias is one of the queens of making the most out of less as she keeps it soft, simple and sotto on this orchestral album tribute to the classic summit meeting between Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The…