This is the fourth album I’ve reviewed by vocalist/trombonist Natalie Cressman, and the third where she’s done Brazilian duets with guitarist/vocalist Ian Faquini. Once again, she just knocks me out with this simple but clever idea of melding Faquini’s horn…
Month: June 2022
Paul Messina: Blue Fire
Leader Paul Messina plays a slew of saxes and flutes as well as hitting the keyboards and synthesizers with his band of Tommy Paez/g, Mike Bogle/key-tb, Mark R. Harris/b, Ignacio Nunez/per and Jaime Vila and collection of guests on this…
Dmitri Matheny: Cascadia
Rare is the artist these days that plays only the flugelhorn, but for this album Dmitri Matheny makes it work and work elegantly with his team of Charles McNeal/ts-ss, Bill Anschell/p, Phil Sparks/b and Mark Ivester/dr on this collection of…
CLASSY CANARIES…Katriona Taylor: Blind Passion, Sally Terrell: Feel Alive, Kristina Koller: Get Out Of Town
Yes, there are women, and there are men. These are women. Thank you… Vocalist Katriona Taylor mixes her own material with clever remakes of standards with her supporting team of Vasilis Xenopoulos/sax-fl, Robin Banerjee/g, Dominic Ashworth/g, John Crawford/p, Peter Hammond/key,…
SELAH…Yelena Eckemoff: I Am A Stranger In This World
I have yet to hear an album by pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff that hasn’t hit me right in my soul. She has created a catalogue of albums focusing on various themes, from times of the year to food. This time around,…
Sven Anderson: Doc’s Holiday
Sven Anderson plays piano, organ and guitar, teamed with John Barron/b, Rob Emanuel/drd, S teve Wood/ts-ss-fl, Scott Cowan/tp, Edward Gooch/tb and a collection of guests on this swinging collection of originals. The bound at times sounds like Steely Dan, with…
Ben Markley Big Band with Ari Hoenig: Ari’s Fun House
Pianist/keyboardist Ben Markley leads a 17 piece big band through seven original pieces, all filled with impressive and creative section work and well delivered solos. The horns are big, bold and brassy as they punch through solos by Will Swindler/as…
Chris Standring: Simple Things
Christ Standring plays guitar and keyboards with his supporting cast of Rodney Lee/key, Andre Berry-Kevin Axt/b, Chirs Coleman/dr and Gary Meek/ts on an album that is reminiscent of the good ol’ days when George Benson was bopping the pop charts.…
Leonor Falcon: Images Mondo Vol II
Leonor Falcon plays violin and viola with her intuitive team of Christof Knoche/as-bcl, Juanma Trujillo/g-mand-uk, Zachary Swanson/b and Juan Pablo Carletti/dr-perc as they interpret her creative compositions. Her strings are warm, joining with Knoche’s alto on the fairly fragmented pair…
BLUES ROCKING TRIOS…The Kenneth Brian Band: Keys to the Kingdom, Horojo Trio: Set The Record
Vocalist/guitarist Kenneth Brian rocks 70s style with his team of Chris Cano/dr, Brandon Owens/b-key and collection of guests. There’s a hint of Mott The Hoople on the riffing “She Is The Night” and title tune, with Brian rasping out the…