Pianist Tim Ray brings together all stars in the names of drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and electric/acoustic bassist John Patitucci for a mix of originals and some clever covers. What stands out most on the latter is a muscular take…
Month: March 2020
Expansions-The Dave Liebman Group: Earth
Dreamy landscapes, like a trip to Monument Valley, are created by Dave Liebman with his soprano sax and wood flute teaming up with Matt Vashlishan/synth, Bobby Avey/p, Tony Marino/b and Alex Ritz/dr. Everyone gets a chance for some solos on…
Gilfema: Three
The longstanding trio of guitarist/vocalist Lionel Loueke, bassists Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth team up for another strong album that is impressive in both song composition, structure and soloing. The thirteen songs are fairly concise, emphasizing musicality of melody,…
Bob Baldwin: Henna
Soulful jazz reminiscent of vintage Joe Sample is produced by Bob Baldwin as he plays the piano and keyboards in sleek settings with a core team of Café’ Da Silva/perc, Tony Lewis/dr, Dave Anderson/b and a mix and match of…
The Claudettes: High Times In The Dark
Sounds like a modern version of Blondie are created by the team of vocalist Berit Ulseth along with Johnny Iguana/p-key, Michael Caskey/dr-perc-key and Zach Verdoorn/b-g. The tunes are all originals, with a wide variety of messages, while a delicate echoed…
Bossacucanova E Robert Menescal: Bossa Got The Blues
Festive and big sounding funky horns are in abundance with the band including Roberto Menescal/eg, Marcio Menescal/eb, Alex Moreira/key, Marcelinho Da Lua/samples and a hard hitting collection of guests. Carlos Malta’s flute floats over the hp line on “Mandacaru” with…
JAZZ IS A VERB…Wayne Alpern: Standard Deviation
Wayne Alpern reminds us that “jazz” was originally a verb in the musical vernacular, as he takes his flexible team and has them puree songs from the 60s to 80s (and even today’s charts) with clever directions and arrangements. The…
Louise Cappi: Melange
Some nice gritty vocals are produced by Louise Cappi as she’s backed by a Memphis stewed team of Jenna McSwain-Paul Lonstreth/p-key, cali Millington-Dean Zucchero-David Hyde/b, AJ Hall-Pierre Menefield/dr, Alex Krahe/g, and some guests on horns. Some funky soul a la…
THIS IS A BEBOP HORN 101…Carl Saunders: Jazz Trumpet
Classy and classically swinging jazz is delivered by veteran trumpetmeister Carl Saunders along with fellow Angelenos Josh Nelson/p, Chuck Berghofer/b and Joe LaBarbera/dr. All four gents are the epitome of what’s best about the LA jazz scene, with Saunders’ sweet…
Jazz at the Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis: The Music of Wayne Shorter
As a rule, the JALC has dedicated itself to jazz stars that have already passed away, so it’s refreshing to have Wynton Marsalis give tribute to a living legend, saxist Wayne Shorter. In fact, Shorter een plays tenor and soprano…