Tenor saxist Sylvester Ostrowski leads a funky soul of a unit that includes guests Bobby Watson/as, Logan Richardson/as and Keyon Harrold/tp along with his working team of Eric Allen/dr, Dominique Sanders/b, Kasia Pietrko/p, Jakub Mizeracki/g, Maciej Kadziela/as, Tomasz Chyta/vln and…
Month: March 2021
A MILLENNIAL SOUNDTRACK? The 8-Bit Big Band: Backwards Compatible
Ready for the Great Video Game Songbook? The 8-Bit Big Band is an orchestra ranging anywhere from 30-65 musicians. They take the themes from their collection of video games and put them into a jazz environment. It’s weird, but it…
Sounds of A & R: Questions Left Unanswered…
Vocalist April May Webb co-leads with trumpeter Randall Haywood (Hence the “A” and “R” moniker) along with a team of Charlie Sigler/g, James Austin/p, Nathan Webb/dr, Jacob Webb/b and Riza Printup/p for an album of messages and emotion. Ms Webb…
METHENY OF THE MIGHT PEN…Pat Metheny: Road To The Sun
This is not the first time that Pat Metheny has entered into the world of folk/classical guitar; remember his collaboration with Anna Maria Jopek back in 2002? This one, of course, is quite different in that Metheny only plays on…
Kane Mathis: Geminus
Exotic yet swinging sound from the Middle East and West Africa are produced by Kane Mathis, who plays both oud and kora in a evocative trio setting with percussionist John Hadfield and bassist Sam Minaie. On the kora, there are…
Shai Maestro: Human
Crystalline pianist ShaiMaestro leads an impressionistic team of Jorge Roeder/b, Ofri Nehemya/dr and Philip Dizack/tp through a collection of almost all originals. The sole exception, Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood”, is an out of character funky delivery, pulsated along…
TORONTO-HOME OF THE NEW “WEST COAST COOL”? See Through 4: Permanent Moving Parts, False Ghosts, Minor Fears
Back in the 1950s, the California Coast was known for creating music that was concise, high on melody and rich in warm, breezy moods. More than half a century later, bassist Pete Johnston is trying to make Toronto the new…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****WHEN LA WAS STILL SWINGING…The Bobby Shew Sextet: Play Song
Back in the 70s and 80s, for five bucks you could go into one of half a dozen jazz clubs any night of the week and catch a first class set or two. LA was filled with studio cats looking…
Grete Skarpeid: Beyond Other Stories
Folksy-voiced Grete Skarpeid mixes originals, poetry and a standard together on this album that has her backed by Aruan Ortiz/p, Rob Waring/vib-perc, Cameron Brown/b and Gerald Cleaver/dr. Her delivery and style is reminiscent of 70s singers, as she gets elliptical…
Theo Bleckmann & The Westerlies: This Land
Vocalist Theo Bleckmann has always travelled his own vocal road, with this latest being possibly his most intriguing. Also doing “live electronic programming”, he teams up with the four trumpet team of The Westerlies (Riley Mulherkar-Chloe Rowlands/tp and Andy Clausen-Willem…