Bassist and composer Adi Meyers creates a music of sonic and verbal poetry with a team of Marquis Hill/tp, Anne Drummond/fl, Lucas Pino/cl-ts, Sam Towse/p-synth, Kush Abadey/dr and vocalists Camille Thurmon, Sabeth Perez and Eden Girma. Girma and Perez speak…
Month: November 2021
WHITE DOPES ON PUNK…The Gleaming Spires: Songs of the Spires, Walk Well Lighted Streets, Welcoming A New Age, Bootheels: 1988: The Original Demos
Back in the 1980s, the LA music pop scene was being filled with sounds of Punk and New Wave bands like Talking Heads, Blondie, The Police, etc. Drummer David Kendrick teamed with bassist Leslie Bohem to form two bands, The…
David Sanford Big Band featuring Hugh Ragin: A Prayer For Lester Bowie
Jazz icon Lester Bowie is given tribute here by conductor/composer/arranger David Sanford, who leads his big band through a collection of tunes saluting and giving reverence to the dearly departed horn master. The 5 reed, 10 brass and 5 rhythm…
Rodney Jordan & Christian Fabian: Conversations
Deep voices and pulsations rule the day here on a collection of wondrous bass duets by Rodney Jordan and Christian Fabian. What can sometimes be an overindulgence in solo format is deliciously delightful as duos, as the two bassists swing…
THE HANG…Josh Nelson: Live At Blue Whale Volume 1
One of the sad consequences of the draconian COVID lockdown was the permanent closing of LA’s best loved jazz club, downtown’s Blue Whale. One of the regular artists, local pianist Josh Nelson, was always seen there either hanging out in…
70s ROCKERS…Loveland Duren: Any Such Thing
The team of Vicki Loveland/voc-perc and Ian Duren/dr-g lead a 70s rocking team of Adam Holton/b, Tim Horrigan/key and various guests through a collection of self-penned reflections of the current political situation. I always believe people swear when they run…
Gary Meek: Monterey Groove
Gary Meek produces upbeat smooth jazz sounds on flute, tenor sax and keyboards with a mix and match ensemble that includes Michael Lent/g, Robert Wider/b, Akiti Bradley/tp and the drum team of either Skylar Campbell or all star Dave Weckl.…
NEW STORIES: Lady Millea: I Don’t Mind Missing You, L.A. Cowboy: The Big Pitch, Wesley Stace: Late Style
There’s a new songwriter, named J. Frederick Millea, and he’s got a couple artists delivering his material. Read on. Jazz vocalist Kate Millea takes on fresh songs composed by J. Frederick Millea, backed by a solid team of Glen Berger/wwinds,…
THE RETURN OF A FRESH VOICE! Alex Bird & The Mavericks: You Are The Light and The Way
Back in March of 2021, the debut album of vocalist/songwriter Alex Bird and his band The Mavericks came out and punched me like a right cross. Unlike most vocal albums, it was original, it was hip, it was completely underived…
THE SOUL OF AMERICAN MUSIC…The King of Gospel Music: The Life and Music of Reverend James Cleveland
Be it jazz, blues, soul, R&B, rock or even country, the spiritual taproot of American music is found in the church, particularly in the pews of the black church. This four disc, 100 page anthology collects the works of the…