Vocalist Jami Templeton has a soft, wispy and delicate voice, using it for intimate portrayals of intriguing covers with her team of Andy Langham/p-mel, Edwin Livingston/b, Charles Ruggiero/dr and guest Joel Frahm/ts. Her gentle and breathy delivery to pieces like…
Month: April 2022
Futurenot: Greatest Hits
Soul, jazz and urban sounds combine with the team of Jason Cressey/tb-tp, Peter Daniel/as-bs-fl, Mark Hunter/eb, Tim Kennedy/key, Cole Schuster/g, David McGraw/dr, Moe Betta/voc an dguests Skerik/ts, Big Tooth/voc on this upbeat session of 9 tunes. Moe Betta gets into…
Hot Mustard: Mother Sauce
Deep grooves and electronic noodles make up this album by Jack Powell/g-synth/dr, Nick Carusos/b, Jordan McLean/tp, Dave Smith/tb and Alan Brisendine/keys. The ten songs all have a kind of synthetic drum beat and groove, seemingly programmed, but stillwith a heavy…
Chris Mondak: Glass Spheres
Swing pulsed bassist Chris Monday leads a deft team of Hunter Smith/sax, Gabe Feldman/p, Lindon McCarty/g and Chris Broomhead/dr through a collection of bopping originals. Mondak sets the pace on his soft intro for “In Sleep” that links in suavely…
THE NEXT METHENY? Gilad Hekselman: Far Star
What do I mean by asking if guitarist Gilad Hekselman is the next Pat Metheny? There’s only one Pat, and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel is also one of the most important forward thinking guitarists today. But Hekselman has that special something…
Markus Burger: The Vienna Sessions
A few years ago, pianist Markus Burger impressed me on a trio session with drummer Peter Erskine and bassist Bob Magnusson on a collection of “Alaska Sessions”. This time around, Burger goes solo and travels to Vienna, bringing together a…
Jeremy Pelt: Sound Track
Possessor of one of the greatest trumpet tones, Jeremy Pelt brings together a new and fresh sounding team of Chien Chien Lu/vib, Victor Gou ld/p-key, Vicente Archer/b, Allan Mednard/dr and guests Anne Drummond/fl and Brittany Anjou/key. The team has a…
The Andy Rothstein Band: Truth Against The World
Earth toned guitarist Andy Rothsten swings, rocks and blueses up a collection of (mostly)original instrumentals with a muscular team of Ton Senatore/b, Andrea Valentini-Tom Cottone, D. Pappas/keys, Steve Jankowski/tp-tb and Tim Timko-Ken Gioffre/ts-bs. The album sounds like a mix of…
THE BARON OF THE BOOGIE…Ivory Joe Hunter: The 50s Collection
One of the classiest gents of the 50s R&B set was singer/pianist Ivory Joe Hunter (1914-1974). He had a piano style imbibed from Fats Waller, and a sense of musical arranging akin to Duke Ellington, even hiring some Ellingtonians for…
Alternative Guitar Summit: Honoring Pat Martino Volume 1
The recent loss of guitar legend Pat Martino created a six stringed void in the jazz world. In his honor, a wide range of fellow pickers got together to salute the iconic maestro, never trying to imitate, but simple to…