The front line of Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia sing and play rocking guitar teamed up in a pair of gigs in Canada with Doug Byrkit/b, Lewis Stephens/p-org ad Matt Johnson-Ephraim Lowell/dr. The pair growl on “You’re Gonna Burn” and…
Month: January 2024
Maria Grapsa Sextet: Life
Pianist and composer Maria Grapsa brings together a team of Becca Wilkins/voc, Matthew Kilner/ts, Liam Brennan/as-cl-bcl, Tommy Fuller/dr and Tom Pountney-Torin Davies/g for a collection of post bop originals. The themes are melodic and impressionistic, with Grapsa in fluid form…
Tania Giannouli: Solo
Pianist Tania Giannouli puts together a 24 song solo recital on this collection of originals. The pieces range from 44 seconds to just over seven minutes, with her approach going from ivories to plucked and strummed strings to a mix…
****WHO IS THIS GUY?!?***RINGER OF THE WEEK***Tommy Wolf: Wolf At Your Door/Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
I’ll tell you right now that piano man/singer Tommy Wolf is so obscure that he’s not even mentioned in Will Friedland’s encyclopedic book Jazz Singers. Give homage to Fresh Sound records for digging this one up, as Tommy Wolf is…
Jun Iida: Evergreen
Trumpeter Jun Iida has a sweet Kenny Dorham-style to his horn on this paste-laden album with Aubey Johnson/voc, Masami Kuroki/g, Josh Nelson/p-key, Jonathan Richards/b and Xavier Lecouturier/dr. The genius here is the melding of Iida’s horn with the ethereal voice…
Tobin Mueller: At The Piano, Volume 1
Best known for his ensemble works at the keyboards, Tobin Mueller shows his talent at solo arias (with a duet here and there) on this collection of piano performances. All of the songs are his own, and the album is…
Peter Erskine and the Jam Music Lab All-Stars: Bernstein In Vienna
Legendary drummer Peter Erskine brings together a band consisting of Robert Unterkofler/ts, Bertl Mayer/harm, Cozy Friedel/vi, Andreas Varady/g, Danny Ziemann/b and musical director Danny Grissett/p for a tribute to one of America’s great composers, Leonard Bernstein, at a concert in…
Art Farmer: The Art of Farmer-Classic Albums 1953-55
Trumpeter Art Farmer (1928-99) possessed one of the prettiest tones on the horn, and was a major factor in the jazz scene particularly in the 50s and 60s. This 2 disc, 42 song collection puts together some of his tastiest…
Francesco Crosara: Circular Motion
Playing piano and synthesizer, Francesco Crosara mixes and matches trios with bassists Clipper Anderson/Farko Dosumov and Osama Afifi with drummers Mark Ivester/D’Vonne Lewis and Xavier Lecouturier respectively on this album of originals. On keyboards, there’s a Stevie Wonder meets Weather…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Kevin Burt & Big Medicine: Thank You Bill-A Tribute to Bill Withers
In order to not prejudice myself one way or another in reviewing an album, I tend not to read the musicians playing or liner notes before listening; I want to take the songs in on their own merits. So, I…