Overlooked for years, the vibraphone is making a comeback, with a couple albums featuring the chiming charms. Vibist Lolly Allen mixes and matches in a variety of swinging settings with the core of saxist Danny Janklow and bassist Jordan Richards…
Month: January 2020
Rae Gordon Band: Wrong Kind of Love
Lead vocalist Rae Gordon boasts a gospel fervent voices as she teams with a big and bold R&B boogie team of Pat McDougall/key, Kivett Bednar/g, Ed Pierce/dr, Joseph Conrad/b and a horn section of Allan Kalik/tp and Scott Franklin/sax. The…
MODERN MOODS…Jennifer Bellor: Reflections a Dusk, Peter Van Zandt Lane: New Cartography
Music is always going forward at Innova Records. Here are a couple recent ideas. Six pieces by composer Jennifer Bellor are interpreted in variety of environs. A collection of saxophones directed by Chien-Kwan Lin create a rich texture that hovers…
MODERN BIG BANDS…Peter Hand Big Band: Hand Painted Dream, Michael Zilber: East West
While it’s economically difficult for big bands to tour, the studio is still filled with great sounds. Here are a couple recent releases. Guitarist and arranger Peter Hand leads a large ensemble that includes big names like Don Braden/ts-fl, Ralph…
Charlie Porter: Immigration Nation
Trumpeter Charlie Porter gives a twelve song tribute to the dreams and journeys of immigrants with a band that sounds like they’ve imbibed from the waters of Horace Silver. Together with Nick Biello/ts, Oscar Perez/p, David Wong/b and Kenneth Salters/dr,…
Michael Janisch: Worlds Collide
Michael Janisch creates a melding of musical civilizations as brings sounds from his bass and percussion to team with mix and matching of Jason Palmer/tp, John O’Gallagher/as, George Crowley/ts, Rez Abbasi/g, John Escreet/key, Clarence Penn/dr and Andrew Bain/dr for clever…
Toni Germani Quartet: We Colonized Souls
Toni Germani plays tenor and alto sax along with adding vocals on this quartet albu with Gege Albanese/p-key, Stefano Cesare/b and Davide Pentassuglia/dr. The album is dedicated to “all the victims of racism and exploitation…in Palestine and in other oppressed…
VARIOUS VOCALS… Diana Panton: A Cheerful Little Earful, Jackie Allen: A Romantic Evening With Jackie Allen Live At The Morroco, Kat Vokes: Clockwork
Sweet and soft vocalist Diana Panton teams with guitarist Reg Schwager and Don Thompson on bass, piano and vibes to create trios of cuteness and swing. With Thompson on vibes, the team sounds like a tribute to George Shearing on…
COPLAND’S RODEO…Marc Copland: And I Love Her, Daniel Schlappi & Marc Copland: Alice’s Wonderland
A pair of releases with one of today’s overlooked greats, Marc Copland… Impressionistic pianist Marc Copland teams up with longtime friend and drummer, the intuitive Joey Baron and bassist Drew Gress for a collection of intuitive and introspectively loose readings…
David Friesen Circle 3 Trio: Interaction
David Friesen plays the Hemage bass for the most part and occasionally the piano on this two disc set with saxist Joe Manis and drummers Charlie Doggett or Reuben Bradley. The firstr disc was recorded in Portland, and features nimble…