Best known for his DJ work for SiriusXM’s Real Jazz, Mark Ruffin puts together a clever novel that mixes jazz history with social commentary on this 220 page book. Mixing stories from jazz musicians that he’s gathered over the years…
Month: November 2020
San Gabriel: Red Dress
Richly toned vocalist Femi Knight leads a hip R&B infused team of Chad Edwards-Matt Weisberg_Chris Gordon/p, Steve Gregory/g, Jonathan Pintoff/b, Randy Drake/dr, Scott Breadman/perc and a hip horn team of Mike McGuffey-Jeff Jarvis-Kye Palmer/tp, Glen Berger/sax and Jim Lewis/tb through…
Luba Mason: Triangle
Relaxed toned vocalist Luba Mason creates intimate moods in this “live in studio” session with the deft support of vibist Joe Locke, bassist james Genus and percussionist Samuel Torres. She shows her wide range not necessarily in terms of dynamics…
MARK EGAN: ELECTRIC, BLUE AND TWO
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on” St. Paul, letter to the Philipians. THERE’S NOTHING AS INSPIRING AS FOLLOWING A SEEKER ON A QUEST. LITERATURE IS FILLED WITH…
Michael Wollny: Mondenkind
German pianist Michael Wollny goes solo as he mixes his own compositions as well as those as far ranging as Alban Berg to Tori Amos. His touch is warm and classical sounding, trickling on Beethoven-esque material such as “Lunar Landscape”…
WITH AND WITHOUT DUANE…The Allman Brothers Band: The Final Note, Warner Theatre, Erie, PA 7-19-05
Here are two historical albums from the historically important southern rock/blues band The Allman Brothers. The twin lead guitar with a southern drawl was patented here, and two incarnations here are of importance for the collector of artifacts and sounds.…
Noah Haidu: Doctone A
Pianist Noah Naudu gives a long overdue tribute to the too-early-departed pianist Kenny Kirkland (1955-1998) on this collection of interpretations of his compositions. He’s teamed with a core trio of Billy Hart/dr and Todd Coolman/b along with visitations by Steve…
Richard Baratta: Music In Film-The Reel Deal
Drummer Richard Baratta swings the silver screen with a crisp team consisting of Vincent Herring/as-ss-fl, Paul Bollenback/g, Michael Goetz/b, Paul Rossman/perc and guest vocalist Carrol Scott. Baratta knows how to set a pace and a mood, creating clever arrangements, such…
Tal Yahalom: Lights Out
Israeli guitarist Tal Yahalom shows his acoustic strengths on this four song ep of originals. On the nylon format, his touch is tender and spacious on “Too Sad to See” and melancholy on the reflective “Goodbye, For Now”. The steel…
Doxas Brothers: The Circle
Brother Chet Doxas on the tenor joins with Jim on drums as they co-lead a quartet of pianist Marc Copland and bassist Adrian Vedady through a collection dominated by bluesy broods that build up to a dramatic climax. Case in…