Joseph Howell successfully brings an instrument usually associated with swing into the modern era. His clarinet has a tone similar to Buddy DeFranco, but his heart beats to the post bop tones of Shorter and Joe Henderson on this fun…
Month: April 2021
DJANGO DJAMS…Stephane Wrembel: The Django Experiment VI, Django L’Impressionniste, Django the Impressionist-Integral of the XVII Preludes for Solo Guitar composed by Django Reinhardt
Gypsy toned guitarist Stephane Wrembel continues his devotion to the legacy of Django Reinhardt’s music in a pair of releases. The first is his sixth edition of The Django Experiment withhis team of Thor Jensen/g, Ari Folman Cohen/b, Nick Anderson/dr,…
Bill Kwan: No Ordinary Love-The Music of Sade
Vocalist Bill Kwan delivers soulful interpretations of the Sade songbook, putting his own fingerprint on the signatures. Mixing small jazz combos with strings, Kwan is able to make each song his own. His rich voice can wisp on the delicate…
THIS IS SWING 101…Count Basie and His Orchestra 1937-39, Sam Donohue: The Sam Donohue Collection 1940-48
If you want to know what’s missing in today’s music, particularly in jazz, it’s this thing called “swing”, perfectly exemplified in these two multi-disc sets. The first set is an essential 3 disc, 63 song set by the guy that…
Tunetown: Entering Utopia
The trio of Kelly Jefferson on tenor and soprano saxes, Artie Ross on bass and Ernesto Cervini on drums, percussion and bass clarinet create a mix of traditional bop sounds along with some festive free from conversations. Of the latter,…
Mark Wingfield-Jane Chapman-Adriano Adewale: Zoji
A mix of Bach and Richie Blackmore takes place with guitarist/soundscaper Mark Wingfield, harpsichordist Jane Chapman and Adriano Adewale handling percussion and vocals on this eleven song journey. The juxtaposition of Chapman’s baroque sounding strings, Asian guitar tones and abstract…
YES! A JAZZ GIG!!! Melissa Morgan Quartet@SamFirst Bar 04.15.21
“I’m Melissa Morgan and I’m fully vaccinated!” So opened LA-based vocalist Melissa Morgan, mask-less and confident with her team of Sam Hirsh/p, Luca Alemanno/b and Kevin Kanner/dr for a streaming concert at SamFirst Bar. With all attendees either vaccinated or…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Franco Ambrosetti Band: Lost Within You
Franco Ambrosetti brings his trumpet and flugelhorn to lead a classy sounding collection of all stars in this wonderfully lyrical album of mostly jazz standards. The team of John Scofield/g, Renee Rosnes-Uri Caine/p, Scott Colley/b and Jack DeJohnette/dr is first…
Doug MacDonald Duo: Toluca Lake Jazz
LA based cool toned guitarist Doug MacDonald teams with bassist Harvey Newmark for a tasty collection of standards with a few originals. This is the type of music that used to be prevalent in LA jazz clubs, but with the…
Yelena Eckemoff: Adventures of the Wildflower
Pianist and composer Yelena Eckemoff has been creating a catalogue of music dedicated to various topics ranging from animals to weather. This time around, she creates a series of songs dedicated to wildflowers with her team of Jarmo Saari/g-gharp, Jukka…