Back in 1996, Madeine Peyroux released a debut album entitled Dreamland that was a gorgeous and exciting mix of Billie Holiday and bohemia. After that, she dropped out of sight, ultimately due to strained vocal chords and eventually living as…
Month: September 2021
Will Boyd: Soulful Noise
On a variety of woodwinds, Will Boyd conjures up sonic images of Coltranesque tones and jazz roots with a team of Taber Gable/p, Darryl Hall/b and Kenneth Brown/dr. Boyd starts things off with a solo soprano recitative of the spiritual…
Cedrus Libani: Hackout!
Here’s a debut album by the Italian trio of Manuel Caliumi/as, Luca Zennaro/g and Riccardo Cocetti/dr, mixing a bit of original material with a clever take of a Baby Boomer hit. The team is bold, brash and a bit quirky,…
Esperanza Spalding: Formwela 6
Bassist Esperanza Spalding has never sat still in her career, with each album a whole different volume from the previous musical novels. This time up, she collaborates with Corey King with a six song ep that seeps with intimacy. Her…
Charged Particles: Live At The Baked Potato
The historic LA jazz club The Baked Potato was the scene of a tribute to sax legend Michael Brecker by the unit of Murray Low/p, Aaron Germain/b, Jon Krosnick/dr and Tod Dickow/sax, aka Charged Particles. The packed and enthusiastic potato…
MPS RECORDS: THE SURVIVAL OF JAZZ AGAINST ROCK…Oscar Peterson: Motions & Emotions, Joe Henderson: Mirror Mirror, Freddie Hubbard: The Hub of Hubbard, Ella Fitzgerald: Sunshine of Your Love, Bill Evans: Symbiosis, George Duke: The Inner Source, Monty Alexander: Live In Montreux, Baden Powell: Images On Guitar
Back in the 60s and 70s, jazz musicians and singers were playing to empty rooms as music fans flocked to hear the new and “here to stay” rock and roll. How did the jazzers respond? That’s what the label MPS…
BLUES PIANO AND BENNETT FROM AVID…Tony Bennett: Four Classic Albums Plus, Blues Piano: Four Classic Albums
The latest collection from UK-based AVID Records covers the most popular living vocalist and obscure piano players. The story on Tony Bennet used to be that he didn’t make hit albums; he made a hit catalogue. This first album in…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Jazzmeia Horn: Dear Love
Vocalist and composer Jazzmeia Horn takes a sharp upturn in her musical trajectory on this most recent, her third album. Her first was compiled of standards, the second was a bit of a more personal one, but both in small…
Scatman Crothers: Groovin’ with…Scatman
Famed actor and musician Scatman Crothers (1910-1986) has some of his vintage material put together on this cozy and nostalgic album. He’s backed by all stars including musicians from The Tonight Show as well as Angeleno session gents like “Ray…
Keshav Batish: Binaries In Cycle
Drummer Keshav Batish leads a lyrical post bop team of Shay Salhov/as, Lucas Hahn/p and Aron Caceres through a mix of originals an jazz covers. Of the latter, he shows his master of tempo changes with a clever militaristic intro…