Consisting of Shelby Kemp-voc-g, Eddie Roberts/g, Ashely Galbraith/b, Taylor Galbraith/dr and Chris Spies/org, The Lucky Strokes specialize in rootsy blues and rock, akin to Tedeschi Trucks Band. Shelby has a raspy delivery akin to Roger Chapman of The Family, growling…
Month: April 2024
VINYL REVIVAL ON CANDID…Charles Mingus: Incarnations. Charles Mingus-Max Roach-Eric Dolphy-Roy Eldridge-Jo Jones: Newport Rebels, Max Roach: We Insist!
One of the most creative labels of the 1950s-60s was Candid Records, and they’ve reissued on vinyl some of their most provocative creations. Hang on tight! Incarnations is a collection of tunes from Mingus’ 1960 recordings, with an impressive guest…
Quadro Nuevo: Happy Deluxe
Breezy bossas are delivered by Quadro Nuevo, consisting of the core of Mulo Francel/ts-cl-fl, Andreas HInterseher/acc-tp-fh-tb and DD Lowka/b along with Chris Gall/p, Tim Collins/vib, Paulo Morello-Philipp Schiepek/g and Mrco Lobo/perc on this collection of mostly originals. The overall mood…
VINYL REVIVAL…Bill Evans: Everybody Digs Bill Evans
In case you didn’t know, the year 1959 is generally considered the greatest year in jazz, as in that year there was a surfeit of “classic” albums released, with Kind of Blue, Time Out, Mingus Ah Um and The Shape…
VINYL REVIVAL…Stan Getz & Bill Evans: Previously Unreleased Recordings, Ella Fitzgerald: Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!, Ben Webster: Soulville
Yes, there are some record labels that are releasing vinyl “reissues” that are simply transfers from cds or mp3. Not Verve, who take their sounds from the original analog tapes and put them on 180 gram vinyl. This is music,…
Kandace Springs: Run Your Race
There’s a lot of reasons to love this album by Kandace Springs, who essentially hasn’t released anything since before the draconian pandemic lockdown. First, Ms. Springs writes most of the material here, so you’re not going to get another rehash…
INTERSTELLAR OVERDRIVE…Sun Ra: At The Showcase-Live In Chicago 1976-1977
One of the most exciting, swinging and idiosyncratic jazz artists has to be Sun Ra, who played music as if literally coming from another planet. While born and weaned in the Swing Era, Ra created his own musical worldview, cementing…
PERSONAL VOCALS…
No, this is not a list of “The Best Of” jazz vocals albums. It’s more of which ones feel like the artist is drawing you into his or her own life. There is a difference. Is the heart on the…
BEYOND CATEGORY…Yusef Lateef: Atlantis Lullaby
Few artists have stayed true to their own unique calling as had Yusef Lateef. He was one of the first musicians to create what is now termed “world music”, simply bringing in rhythms, harmonies and instruments from disparate part of…
KANDACE SPRINGS: RUNNING HER RACE
CAN I BE COMPLETELY HONEST WITH YOU? AS A JAZZ JOURNALIST, I GET SCORES OF ALBUMS TO REVIEW EACH WEEK. INVARIABLY A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THEM ARE BY FEMALE VOCALISTS. AFTER AWHILE, A CERTAIN SAMENESS PERVADES THESE RELEASES, SO SOMETHING…