I’m not the guy to tell you the difference between the flugelhorn and trumpet on listening, as I’ve heard trumpet men play both with nary a palpable difference. Andre Canniere plays both in a rich post bop team with vocalist…
Month: June 2020
LEO ROARS…Nucleons: Hunting Waves, Simon Nabatov: Time Labyrinth, Kudryavtsev/Costa/Sandomirsky/Talalay: Quartet Red, Gratkowski-Nabatov-Mahnig: Dance Hall Stories, Schwaar/Oester/Frankle’: Travellin’ Light
Spring is in the air, and Leo is roaring like a lion… Bassist Sebastian Roztler and drummer Emanuel Kunzi form a free forming trio with the flexible voice of Franziska Baumann. There are no real “lyrics” as opposed to panting…
POLISHED BRASS..Duotrio: In the Bright and Deep
In a season when most music is either cacophony or navel gazing, it’s refreshing when you get an album that mixes clever ideas along with confident tones and a swingingly soulful sound. Daniel Nissenbaum plays trumpet, piccolo trumpet and synths…
DJANGO DJAMS…Nunzio Ferro & Casino’ Babis: C’est la Vie!
Like every expert cook, gypsy toned guitarist Nunzio Ferro reminds you of the important adage of trusting your basic ingredients. In this case, it’s swing, joy and musicianship, as Ferro and his company perform an album filled with hot jazz…
Frank Sinatra: Nice ‘n’ Easy 60th Anniversary Edition
If you don’t have a copy of Frank Sinatra’s 1961 Nice ‘n’ Easy, this 69th Anniversary edition (with three bonus songs) is a great excuse to get it. It was his penultimate session for Capitol, and broke his pattern of…
TODAY’S BEST TENOR SAXIST? In Common: 2
While the band In Common is a collective of Matthew Stevens/g, Micah Thomas/p, Linda May Han Oh/b, Nate Smith/dr and Walter Smith III/ts, this album makes an excellent case for Smith to be one of the most important of this…
Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, Damu The Fudgemunk: Ocean Bridges
At one time, tenor saxist Archie Shepp was one of the poster children for Impulse! Records, with a fiery tenor and outside in style of playing. Due to health situations, Shepp went to the sidelines for awhile, recently resurfacing with…
FORGOTTEN MAN WITH A HORN…Johnny Letman: Quartet and Quintet-The Four Faces of Johnny
Just when you think that there are no other trumpeters from the Swing Era to discover, here comes Fresh Sound Records with a guy I’ve never heard before, but definitely deserves your attention. Johnny Letman (1917-92) has both a horn…
YOUR HASLIP IS SHOWING..Jimmy Haslip-featuring Joe Vannelli: Red Heat, Nightfall
One of the most underappreciated bassists around has to be Jimmy Haslip. He was one of the founding members of The Yellowjackets, and he’s also associated himself with fusionist Jeff Lorber. In the LA scene, he does a lot of…
SOUTH CITY BLUES…The Smoke Wagon Blues Band: The Ballad of Albert Johnson, Eric Hughes Band: Postcard From Beale Street
Here is some music that continues the tradition of the New Orleans and Memphis’ beat and attitude. With Corey Lueck on vocals and harmonica, Mike Stubbs and Steve Sherman on guitar, Brandon Bruce playing the piano and organ, Gordan Aeichele…