Drummer Xaver Hellmeier has hard bop in his bones on a blue plate of Blue Note themed material with the muscular team of Jeremy Pelt/tp, Eric Alexander/ts, David Hazeltine/dr and Peter Washington/b on a mix of originals and jazz classics.…
Month: February 2023
Graham Dechter Trio @ The Baked Potato 02.06.23
One of the “regulars” at The Baked Potato, Graham Dechter, took a night off from his usual Lineage Trio to team up with Hammond specialist Larry Goldings, also playing hooky from his long time threesome, and brought in drummer Mark…
WONDERFUL AND FORGOTTEN ELLINGTONIA…Planet D Nonet: Blues To Be There
There are many albums that give tribute to the legendary Duke Ellington, but most of the time they simply reproduce the big band hits. Regrettable is the fact that small group units and Ellington compositions from the 1950s tend to…
SO, THESE EIGHT BEATS GO INTO THIS BAR… Swing –A-Rama Volume 1, Boogie-A-Rama Volume 1, Burlesque-A-Rama Volume 1, Duet-A-Rama Volume 1
Specializing in finding juke joint jumping obscurities from the 40s-50s, Atomicat Records has come up with a new series of “jive”, calling them “A-Rama” to signify that the music is for hep cats only. The single discs are collections of…
THE MUSIC THAT SAVED JAZZ…Joao Gilberto: The Roots of Bossa Nova, Stan Getz The Classic Albums Collection 1955-1963
One could make a compelling argument that if it weren’t for the blood transfusion of bossa nova into the veins of jazz in the early 1960s, the music would have died of the cacophony of free jazz. The pulse and…
Falkner Evans: Through The Lens
Pianist Falkner Evans goes gently into solo format for five nocturnes on this latest release. The tunes range from 5-10 minutes, with each piece filled with patience and melody. There’s a gentle tide to pieces like “Soul Witness”, with a…
Marina Pacowski: Inner Urge
Vocalist Marina Pacowski bops and coos with ferver on this mix and match album of Angelenos including Scott Whitfield/tb, Josh Nelson-Mark Massey-Bevan Manson/p, John Clayton-Mike Gurrola/b, Roy McCurdy-Peter Erskine/dr and Larry Koonse/g along with some one-off guests. Tenor titan Joel…
LET’S DANCE! , R&B No.#1’s of the 40s, The American Bandstand US Top 100 5th August 1957, The 1959 R&B Hits Collection
These three recent historical box sets should serve as a reminder to jazz musicians why they only play to 10 people in a nightclub-PEOPLE WANT TO DANCE! As Art Blakey famously declared, “All music is dance music” and the music…
THE FIRST “JAM BAND”…Buck Clayton: A Buck Clayton Jam Session, A Buck Clayton Jam Session 1974, A Buck Clayton Jam Session Volume 3
In today’s music scene, you can throw a rock in any direction and find a musician who is part of a “jam band”, with Snarky Puppy and Medeski, Martin and Wood coming quickly to mind. The actual idea of an…
SIX STRINGS OF JOY…Jason & The Jazzerknots: The Shakedown
Guitar styles and fads come and go, but, like wardrobes, certain things remain classic and timeless. Like a navy blue sport jacket, guitarist Jason Goessl and his Jazzerknots Josh Gallagher/p, Jeremy Boettcher/b and Mike Malone/dr serve up small group jazz…