Here’s an intriguing album by a woman with a wondrous voice, mixing elements of her own cultural heritage of German, Italian and Iranian sounds. She also plays guitar and piano, mixing and matching with Harold Lopez-Nussa/p, Mayquel Gonzalez/tp, Julio Cesar…
Month: October 2022
THE MAJESTRY OF MINGUS…Charles Mingus: Landmark Albums 1956-60
There are few in the world of jazz, or in music in general, who can truly be considered sui generis. Armstrong, Ellington, Miles and Monk come to immediate mind. Among the absolute geniuses of jazz has to be bassist, leader…
WOMEN SINGING…Katherine Farnham: Alquimia, Patrisha Thomson: Wild Is The Wind, Xioma Torres: La Voz Del Mar
So many women, so little time… Well, Katherine Farnham know how to belt it out, that’s for sure! No hiding in the corner here; she comes out swinging, also playing piano and keyboards with a rotating team of guitarists, drummers…
BIG BAND: Eyal Vilner: The Jam!
Vintage swing sounds, with material both old and new, is served up by leader/arranger Eyal Vilner, who also plays alto sax, clarinet and flute with a 16 piece team that includes singers Imani Rousselle, Briana Thomas, Brandon Bain and even…
John Minnock: Simplicity
Vocalist John Minnock has a relaxed and avuncular deliver on this casual-cool collection of standards. Backed by Dave Liebman/ss, Mathis Picard-Sean Mason/p, Mark Lewandowski-Carlos Mena/b and Pablo Eluchans/dr, he lets you feel the power of each lyric, soft and cozy…
SOLO…Kevin Cerovich: Aging Millennial, Joao Madeira: Aqui, Dentro, Russ Hewitt: Chasing Horizons
The life of a lonely musician… Ya gotta like a guy who puts in the liner notes “If you’re reading this you must have purchased my CD. No one buys CD’s anymore-what’s the matter with you?” That’s the kind of…
Doug Stone: Facing West
Tenor saxist Doug Stone has a rich Sonny Rollins’d muscular feel to his sound, and he ups the ante by bringing in boss tenor Donnie Norton to the front line along with a bopping yet flexible rhythm team of Braun…
TRIOS…Steve Knight: Persistence, JC Sanford: Imminent Standards Trio Vol. 2
Trio time… Guitarist Steve Knight leads a modern but bopping trio through a mix of originals and covers on this album that is reminiscent of vintage Grant Green. Knight’s tone is similar to Greens with its #2 pencil width, running…
Geoffrey Keezer & Friends: Playdate
One of the more important voices on the West Coast is pianist Geoffrey Keezer, who’s made a living as the pianist for a wide range of vocalists as well as being a sideman for hard boppers ranging from Benny Golson…
Matt Choboter’s Hypnopompia: Sleep Inertia
Matt Choboter plays piano, preparations and “drone collages” with a team of Francois Houle/cl-el, Jacob Wiens/g-el, James Meger/b-el and Andrew Thomson/dr. What’s the problem, can’t Thomson handle anything electrical? Anyway, Houle’s compositions mix dreamy and static atmospheres with piano and…