One of the founding members of the style and sound that became eventually known as “World Music”, Paul Winter, at 82, still sounds as fresh and vibrant as an early morning sunrise. This latest album has the soprano saxist mixed…
Month: June 2022
Brian Landrus: Red List
The term “Red List” is a term used for indicating animals that are considered endangered, with the title used by woodwind master Brian Landrus to use the music on this album as a conversation starter for discussing causes, effects and…
David Francis: Sings Songs From The Twenties
Something must have been in the air a century ago, as David Francis shows through his song selection. Each of the songs he interprets is 100 years old, and each one still sounds fresh. Francis has a voice with elements…
William Flynn: Seaside
Washington-based Origin Records seems to be a mecca for guitarists, as they’ve been releasing a plethora of six stringed outings. This latest is from the clean-toned William Flynn, who has a dash of Grant Green to his picking as he…
Jeremy Manasia Trio: Butcher Block Ballet
Pianist Jeremy Manasia has a wide ranging post bop feel on his piano and expresses himself well on this exciting trio date with Ugonna Okegwo/b and Charles Ruggiero/dr. He shows his allegiance to bop masters with some rich Monk ideas…
Meridian Odyssey: Earthshine
Post bop jazz bordering on Weather Report-styled fusion is delivered by the adroit team of Santosh Sharma/ts, Noah Halpern/tp, Dylan Hayes/p, Martin Budde/g, Ben Feldman/b and Xavier LEcouturier/dr on this collection of band-composed originals. The instrumentation is traditional, but the…
WESTERN, NOT C&W…Texas Jim Robertson: Classic Cowboy Country 1939-54
Before there was the genre “Country/Western” , or C&W, there was music that was “Country” and music that was “Western”. From the Lone Star State, Texas Jim Robertson, like others such as Cowboy Gene Autrey and Roy Rogers, sang songs…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****THE ROMANTIC TUBA…The Jim Self/John Chiodini Duo: Hangin’ Out
Along with the accordion, the tuba has to be one of the least likely instruments in the jazz canon, but big brass man Jim Self has made it work. This time out, he even ups the ante, bringing in guitar…
Tigran Hamasyan: Stand Art
For most of his career, pianist Tigran Hamasyan has used traditional Armenian fold music as a base for his musical catalogue in both jazz and progressive rock. This time around, he dives deep into the book of American Standards, using…
THE SUI GENERIS OF BEBOP CLARINET…Buddy DeFranco: The Bebop Years 1949-56
Quick, name 3 bebop clarinet players. Exactly. Well, Benny Goodman tried it for about 6 months, Tony Scott was in and out of it, and then you have Buddy DeFranco (1923-2014) who not only pioneered bebop for the fiendishly unforgiving…