A couple of ladies with strings attached… Five-stringed violinist Tomoko Omura leads a quintet of Jeff Miles/g, Glenn Zaleski/p, Pablo Menares/b and Jay Sawyer/dr through some rich and warm originals and covers. Her tone is alluring and optimistic, mixing pizzicato’d…
Month: August 2020
Rose Kingsley: A Diva’s Tribute to Johnny Mercer
A number of years ago I heard opera-turned-jazz vocalist Rose Kingsley deliver an impressive reading of standards backed by a hip jazz trio. This time around, the 4 octave diva goes one step further in providing a collection of duets…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****THE GREAT SCHUBERT SONGBOOK? Madre Vaca: Winterreise
No, it’s not someone “swinging the classics”, but Franz Schubert does get a go-over with arrangements by Benjamin Shorstein and interpretations by a nifty post bop team consisting of Juan Rollan/sax, Steve Strawley/tp, Lance Reed/tb, Jonah Pierre/p, Jarrett Carter/g, Mike…
Gregory Porter: All Rise
Since his very first album, it was easy to predict the musical trajectory of vocalist Gregory Porter. His mix of Motown soul, church gospel feel and original, reassuring lyrics is a spot on winning combo, with this latest album a…
Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big B and: The Intangible Between
Remember concerts? Pianist, leader, composer and arranger Orrin Evans leads his big band at a “live” recording at NYC’s Sear Sound Studio C with an enthusiastic mix of originals and jazz standards. Titles and themes proclaim messages both secular and…
LADIES OF SONG…VickiKristinaBarcelona: Pawn Shop Radio, Tania Grubbs Quintet: Live At Maureen’s Jazz Cellar, Kari van der Kloot: The Architects, Lisa Lambe: Juniper
Double X chromosomes at the microphone… The VKB vocal band of Rachelle Garniez also on various stringed instruments, harp and percussion, Amanda Homi hitting the drums, keyboards and “various things shaken and stirred” and Terry Radigan on banjo and Gibson…
Matt Gold: Imagined Sky
Guitarist Matt Gold creates moods ranging from 50s rock to pastoral folk on this album with Bryan Doherty/b, Jeremy Cunningham/dr as a core team with guests on vocals, violin, synthesizer and bass. Hints of Dick Dale or The Ventures are…
Bobby Watson: Keepin’ It Real
One of the true carriers of the Hard Bop torch, alto saxist Bobby Watson plays to his strengths at February 20, 2020 gig (must’ve been right before the COVID lockdown) with a classic quintet team of pianist Victor Gould, bassist…
Julio Botti: Pure Tango
This is about the 3rd or 4th album I’ve heard by saxist Julio Botti, and each one has been impressive in its own right. This time around he keeps the music in tiny settings of duets, trios and occasional quartets on…
FEMALE FORMS…Linda Lavin: Love Notes, Janet Dacal: My Standards
A pair of albums by ladies that also make a living on stage or theater… Linda Lavin is best known for her role in the sitcom Alice, and shows here that she knows how to work a lyric as well,…