Warm toned trumpeter Josh Lawrence creates a vintage Blue Note sounding quintet with Willie Morris/ts, Art Hirahara/p, Boris Kozlov/b and Jason Tiemann-Rudy Royston/dr. Lawrence pens most of the material, except for Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti” with a mute horned leader building…
Month: April 2023
Total Refreshment Centre: Transmissions from Total Refreshment Center
Supposedly, the “new thing” in in music is supposed to be coming from London’s Total Refreshment Center, a community of artists that mix R&B and rap with sounds akin to 60s soul. What you end up with is something that…
Bird, Dexter, Fats, you get the picture: The Birth Of Bop
This two disc collection is a sampler of the multi-disc vinyl set released by Craft Recordings of the early and historical Savoy recordings back in the early days of Bebop. Some of the most important sessions of modern jazz were…
Nelson Blanchard: Nelson Blanchard
Blue-eyed soul is served up by vocalist Nelson Blanchard, who mixes his own compositions with some standards and Nashville-based Dan Tyler. There’s a core team of David Hyde/b, Eddie Bayers/dr and David Grissom-Brent Mason/g with a sometimes horn section of…
Billy Childs: The Winds of Change
he catalogue of Billy Childs has as many colors as a painter’s palate. I’ve seen him in chamber orchestras, supporting vocalists, hard bopping and even plugging in, all like each style is his comfort food. This time around, he’s in…
Artemis: In Real Time
Is the band Artemis a “female” band, or a band that happens to be made up of females? The fact that I’m asking shows how male-dominated jazz is, and how XX chromosome bands always seem like a novelty. Well, the…
Jae Sinnett’s Zero to 60 Quartet: Commitment
Muscular modern jazz is served up by drummer Jae Sinnett and his team that includes all stars Steve Wilson/as-ss, Randy Brecker/tp-fh and a hip rhythm section of Allen Farnham/p and Terry Burrell/b. The team digs in hard for some rich…
Buzz Amato: Muse Café
A wide swath of soundscapes are created by Buzz Amato playing piano, Rhodes, synths and various programming works with a mix and match team that includes Doug Payne/wwinds, Rick Hinkle-Chris Blackwell/g, Joseph Patrick Moore-Bennie Sims/b, Louis Newsom-Timothy Courts/dr and other…
Gerhard Graml: Everything
Bassist and composer Gerhard Graml leads a team of Joe Herra/tp, Bobby Muncy/ts, Abram Mamet/hrn, Chris Tiles/p and Julian Berkowitz/dr through a wide range of originals. Graml digs in deep for a swaying gospel “Prayer Meeting” while creating a double…
TRIOS… Time Carman Trio: Key Lime
Drummer Tim Carman brings up a humming Hammond trio with organ man Ken Clark and guitarist Steve Fell through a greasy session of blues and boogie. He shows his wares on his spot light of a title track, rumbling and…