The electronic work of Ikue Mori, trumpet and flugelhorn of Christian Pruvost, trumpet and voice of Natsuki, piano of the legendary Satoko Fujii and drumming of Peter Orins results in seven intuitive improvisations and explorations. The team plods through some…
Month: August 2020
Dominic Lalli: A Blind Man’s Blue
A muscular modern team led by tenor saxist Dominic Lalli along with Rudy Royston/dr, Eric Gunnison/p, Bijoux Barbosa/b and Greg Gisbert/tp sizzle through a mix of standards and hard hitting originals. His tenor sax is Coltrane-tough as he muscles with…
Shubh Saran: Becoming
This five song EP by guitarist/composer Shubh Saran shows an intriguing future direction for jazz six stringers. Saran claims that his goal is to have himself and his team mix jazz sensibilities with the drive and energy of punk rock…
Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash
Told through the lens of surviving drummer Artimus Pyle, Street Survivors is a non-documentary movie/cd about the ill-fated plane crash on October 20, 1977 in Mississippi that claimed the lives of band members Ronnie van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Ben & Winnie: La Proxima Traicion
Here is an album that captures the heart of jazz, mixing improvisation, melody and, of course the historic “Latin Tinge”. It’s just a duet of Ben Bogart on the bandoneon and Winnie Cheung on piano, but what they do is…
BRAZILIAN LOVE AFFAIR…Eddie Daniels: Night Kisses-A Tribute to Ivan Lins
Arguably the best living clarinetist, Eddie Daniels displays a new color of his multi-prismed career on this latest album. For the past few years, he has released a number of “live” albums, usually with Tom Ranier or Roger Kellaway, and…
THE WES MONTGOMERY OF PIANO…Erroll Garner: The Classic Trio Recordings 1949
I use the comparison of pianist Erroll Garner to guitarist Wes Montgomery because they had parallel careers and styles. Both did not know how to read music, neither was a major composer, more of the “interpreter” realm, both had a…
Paulette McWilliams: A Woman’s Story
Vocalist Paulette McWilliams interprets mature themes with a mature deliver on this soulful collection of interpretations. She’s got a rich range that can dig deep as on the poppish take of Donny Hathaway’s “Chasing The Sun” and can go honey-toned…
I’LL TAKE YOU THERE…The Staples (Singers): Let’s Do It Again, Pass It On, Family Tree, Unlock Your Mind
One of the most successful groups that crossed over from gospel to secular/soul, The Staples Singers, has four of their last releases finally reissued. While the albums don’t have mega-hits like “I’ll Take You There” or “Respect Yourself”, there is…
Sasha Mashin: Happy Synapse
Drummer and leader Sasha Mashin mixes and matches his trio of bassist Makar Novikov and pianist Benito Gonzalez with a rotating horn section of Josh Evans/tp, Rosario Giuliani/as and Dmitry Mospan/ts on a collection of advanced post bop originals. The…