Playing guitar and keyboards, Peter Xifaras brings together a team of Shunzo Ohno/tp, Xander Nichting/vi, Max Geri/b and Scott Jackson/dr with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra to mix jazz, funk and soul. There’s a push on the groove here, with…
Month: November 2023
Miho Hazama’s m_unit: Beyond Orbits
Composer Miho Hazama conducts a 16 member jazz orchestra, along with some thrilling guests on this ambitious collection of material. The centerpiece is a three part “Exoplanet Suite”, with guest bassist Christian McBride working around the string section and Monkish…
DRUMMING WITH COSGROVE…Jeff Cosgrove: Welcome Home, Confusing Motion For Progress, Live In Carrboro
Drummer Jeff Cosgrove is making up for lost time from the COVID lockdown and has been hitting the clubs with a variety of bands, all three caught in the act on recently released sessions. Cosgrove teams up at the Town…
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band @ Catalina’s 11.10.23
One of the few artists to keep together a viable big band for almost a quarter century, Gordon Goodwin showed that he’s still going strong, having recently recorded a clever album of material by Raymond Scott and recently getting nominated…
Astghik Martirosyan: Distance
Astghik Martirosyan (and that’s the last time I’m spelling out her name) plays piano with an assertive voice, teamed with LA legend Vardan Ovsepian/p, Darek Oles/b, Christian Euman/dr, Daniel Rotem/ts and Maksim Velichkincel. There’s a delicate Mozartian feel to Fred…
Mike Boone: Enjoying The View
Bassist Mike Boone mixes and matches a wide collection of sounds and artists of “Have You Met Miss Jones? And funky “The Chicken” with pianist Mekhi Boone sizzling on McCoy Tyner’s “Passion Dance”. Boone also adds some Soul Train vocals…
JUST BEFORE TAKING FIVE…The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Live From The Northwest, 1959
On the cusp of his classic Time Out album, Dave Brubeck and his Mt. Rushmore team of Paul Desmond/as, Joe Morello/dr and Eugene Write/b took a trip to The Multnomah Hotel and Clark College in April of 1959 for pair…
SunnySiders: 27 Stitches
The tasty Croatian bluesrocking group Sunnysiders consists of the rough and defiant voice of Antonija Brgoc Rola along with a team of Boris Hrepic Hrepa/voc-g-b-harm, Luka Banic Bane/g, Mihael Vlah Miha/dr, Tornislav Novak Tomi/b and a mix and match collection…
Jessica Pavone Clamor
Violinist and composer Jessica Pavone brings together the strings of Aimee Niemann/vi, Charlotte Munn-Wood/vi, Abby Swidler/vi, Mariel Roberts/cel, Shayna Dulberger/b and Taherine Young/bassoon for a sextet and soloist collection of four originals. Young sqwacks with long and jarring tones on…
Scott Clark: Dawn & Dusk
Drummer Scott Clark brings together Bob Miller/tp-fh, JC Kohl/bcl-ts, Michael McNeill/p, Adam Hopkins/b and Laura Ann Singh/voc for a wide ranged collection of originals, both in studio and in concert. Singh uses her haunting vocals around the agonizing horns of…