Here’s a uniquely impressionistic and creative debut album with the mix of harpist Motoshi Kosako, fretless bassist Michael Manring and percussionist/tablaist Chris Garcia on eight originals, the band’s name is derived from the first letter’s of each member’s last name,…
Month: January 2021
Cory Wong: Trail Songs-Dawn
Cory Wong continues his collection of trail songs, this time focusing on “Dawn” in a more upbeat and rocking mood. He’s cheerful and still folksy to the backbeat of pieces like “Trailhead” and gets bluegrassy on a couple of pieces…
Alonzo Demetrius: Live From The Prison Nation
Trumpeter and composer Alonzo Demetrius addresses prison reform with his working band of Yesseh Furaha-Ali/ts, Daniel Abraham Jr/p-key, Benjamin Jephta/b and Brian Richburg Jr/dr, mixing musical and social messages. Spoken messages by radical Angela Davis and famed prisoner-writer Mumia Abu…
Putumayo Presents: New Orleans Mambo-Cuba to NOLA
Like gumbo soup, this collection of ten songs from the Crescent City has flavors from all corners of the world, melding into one spicy and filling meal. The “Latin Tinge”, always present in jazz since its beginnings, is represented by…
Nils Wulker: Go
Trumpeter Nils Wulker creates soft tones on his horn, but puts them in songs that are reminiscent of synth 80s tunes a la Hall & Oats. Pop soul with a Nintendo pulse contrasts with the delicate brass on “Hidden Intensions’…
Meridian Odyssey: Second Wave
Drummer Xavier Lecourier leads a post bop team of Santosh Sharma/ts, Martin Budde-Lucas Winter/g, Dylan Hayes-Gus Carns/key and Ben Feldman/b through a collection of modern post bop pieces. He takes the pen to intricate “Interlake” that weaves together work by…
Wayne Alpern: Jukebox
Producer and arranger Wayne Alpern creates a Mozartian wood ensemble interpretation of material ranging from jazz to pop standards in a most delightful way. He utilizes the Dorian Wind Quintet, made up of Gretchen Pusch/fl, Gerard Reuter/ob, Benjamin Fingland/cl, Karl…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Julia Karosi featuring Ben Monder: Without Dimensions
Vocalist Julia Karosi creates some other exotic sounds that range from Old World to Other World on this collection of songs that feature guitarist Ben Monder in a wide kaleidoscope of colors and sounds with Aron Talas/p, Adam Bogothy/b and…
TRUMPET TONES…Emily Kuhn: Sky Stories, Kitt Lyles: Wake Before Dawn,
Trumpeter Emily Kuhn is on a pair of albums that display an eclectic mix of sounds and moods, always drawing you in to her aural world. Sky Stories has her teamed with Gustavo Cortinas/dr, Max Bessen/as-ts-ss, Evan Levine/b, Ben Cruz/g,…
TAKING OFF…The United States Air Force Band; The 2020 Jazz Heritage Series-Airmen of Note with John Fedchock, Christian McBride and Randy Brecker
The skies are safe and swinging with the US Air Force Band conducted by Commander Don Schofield, as he enlists the chops of trombonist John Fedchock, bassist Christian McBride and trumpeter Randy Brecker as guests to sit in with this…