Hammond B3er Mike LeDonne goes to church with the baptized team of Eric Alexander/ts, Peter Bernstein/g, Joe Farnsworth/dr, Daniel Sadownick/perc, guest Vincent Herring/as and the addition of a Sunday morning mooded choir. The entire ensemble boogaloos and the swaying “Put…
Month: April 2024
John Surman: Words Unspoken
Best known for his work on the baritone sax, jazz vet John Surman brings in both soprano sax and bass clarinet on this mellow album with Rob Luft/g, Rob Warng/vib and Thomas Stronen/dr. His baritone is balmy with Waring on…
Hillary Gardner: On The Trail with the Lonesome Pines
Vocalist Hilary Gardner looks comfortable in Country and Western clothes on this tumbling tumbleweeds of an album with Justin Poindexter/g-mand-org-voc, Noah Garabedoan/b, Aaron Thurston/dr and Sasha Papernik/acc. She’s got the right voice and timing for the Opry genre, cozy with…
Charles Lloyd: The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Halfway through his eighth decade on this planet, Charles Lloyd has turned into literally the “voice” of jazz, as his tone on either sax or flute captures the spirit of modern music. On this double album, the only major surprise…
Kaze: Unwritten
Trumpeter and flugelhornist Christian Pruvost teams up with the voice and horn of Natsuki, pianist Satoko Fujii and drummer Peter Orins for a three song, 65 minute concert of intuitive originals. The 36 minute “Thirteen Years” opens with an almost…
Lenny Williams: Chill
Best known for his work as vocalist for Tower Of Power, Lenny Williams has carved out a simultaneous solo career, with this reissue coming from 1995. Here, he mixes and matches the artists, which include multi-instumentalists Mike Mani, Felton Pilate…
Steve Ash: You and the Night
Pianist Steve Ash swings like a mix of Red Garland and Victor Feldman on this trio album with Harvie S/b and Alvester Garnett/dr. He has a classy uptown feel on the uptempo read of the title tune, and displays well…
Daniel Herskedal: A Single Sunbeam
Tuba man Daniel Herskedal puts out an album with vocalist Marja Mortensson, drummer Helge Andreas Norbakken and Ola Kvernberg bringing in electronics and strings. The moods are mostly shaded, with Mortensson in a nasally mood for “Your Inner Shade” and…
Jacob Shulman: High Firmament/Ferment Below
This double album by clarinetist and tenor saxist Jacob Shulman has him in the company of Hayoung Lyou/p, Walter Stinson/b and Kayvon Gordon/dr with guest Jasper Dutz/cl for six tunes on High Firmament. “Plucky has a folksy feel, and Gordon…
Benjamin Croft: We Are Here To Help
Keyboardist Benjamin Croft brings in some Deep P urple-ish rock fusion on this album with Greg Howe-Carter Arrington-Per Nilsson/g, Billy Sheehan-Stuart Hamm/b, Simon Phillips-Marco Minnemann/dr and vocalists Jeff Scott Soto or Lynsey Ward. For the instrumentals, there’s a dark metallic…