Jazz fans are always searching out for “lost” recordings of their favorite groups. We have a few of them, such as a poorly recorded concert of Clifford Brown with Max Roach, Miles Davis’ off balanced recording with John Coltrane, Bill…
Month: October 2021
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****BRAZILIAN BEAUTY…Kristen Mather De Andrade: Clarao
Did Brazilian music save jazz? It at least gave it a second wind, with samba and bossa nova being the carrot juice that revived its blood supply. Here, warm toned clarinetist and oozing vocalist Kristen Mather de Andrade melds jazz…
TWO SIDES OF NINA SIMONE…Ledesi: Ledesi Sings Nina, Nina Simone: Little Girl Blue
Although she died (at age 70) back in 2003, singer, songwriter, pianist and social activist Nina Simone is possibly more influential today than she was during her halcyon performing years. She started out as a pop/jazz/classical pianist and vocalist and…
Antonio Adolfo: Jobim Forever
Can you EVER have enough interpretations and tributes to Tom Jobim? So far, the answer is still a resounding “NO” as pianist Antonio Adolfo does some clever arranging of the samba master with a team of Lula Galvao/g, Jorge Helder/b,…
System 6: Tales From the Backyard
Leader Benn Clatworthy plays tenor and soprano saxes along with flute and bass clarinet as he produces his original compositions with a flexible team of Ron Stout/tp, Joey Seller/tb, Bryan Velasco/p, David Reynoso, Tyler Krieutel/dr and Yayo Morales/perc. The six…
MODERN GUITAR…Gaetano Letizia: Chartreuse, Bob Gorry-Pete Brunelli-Peter Riccio: GoBrunCcio
Today’s and tomorrow’s six stringers…. Gaetano Letizia goes acoustic and electric with his guitars teamed with Bob Esterle/ts-ss, Theron Brown/p-org, Bill Ransom/perc and Matthew DeRubertis/b on this collection of originals. Plugged in, he rocks hard with Esterle’s tenor sax and…
Renee Rosnes: Kinds of Love
One of the underservedly overlooked post bopping pianists has to be Renee Rosnes. You can’t blame her, as she’s put out some excellent work, siding along Joe Henderson or Ron Carter working with the SFJAZZ Collective and creating an impressive…
FOLKSY FEMALES…The Witherbees: Love Letter, Dar Williams: I’ll Meet You Here, Ana Egge: Between Us
Today’s ladies of the canyon… The folk-jazz band The Witherbees is still co-lead by guitarist Mike Lorenz and violaist-vocalist Jacqui Armbruster along with Justin Sekelewski/b and Kyle Andrews. This most recent release has them mixing some fun and small group…
Hilary Kole: Sophisticated Lady
It’s been a number of years between sessions by vocalist Hilary Kole. I caught her at a jazz club about 7-8 years ago and was knocked out by her delivery of standards. She got sidelined by some personal issues, but…
LATIN WONDERS…Dominican Jazz Project: Desde Lejos, Cettina Donato & Ninni Bruschetta: I Siciliani
A pair of sounds from the Latin Quarter… Exciting and percolating pulses are produced by the Dominican Jazz Project, boasting of a mix of drums, percussion and basses galloping under post bop horns along with passionate vocals. David Almengod brings…