For his ACT debut, Mikael Mani Asmundsson plays solo guitar on this collection of personal originals. His tone is confident and bright, clear during “She’ll Arrive Between 10 & 11” while tender on the slightly funky “Katie, Not Klara”. The…
Month: May 2024
Melissa Aldana: Echoes Of The Inner Prophet
Tenor saxist Melissa Aldana continues to create moody portraits on her albums, this time with Lage Lund/g-ef, Fabian Almazan/p, Pablo Menares/b and K ush Abadey/dr. Yes, there are moments of light swing, as on the spry “The Solitary Seeker” with…
CANARIES Lauren White: Making It Up As We Go Along
Vocalist Lauren White brings together various aspects of relationships on this album with Quinn Johnson/p-arr, Larry Koonse/g, Kevin Axt-Trey Henry/b, Brian Swartz/tp, Katisse Buckingham/sax-f, and Chris Wabich-Dan Schnelle-Ray Brinker/dr. The moods range from a saucy and salsa’d “Tin Tin Tea”…
Stephanie Lamprea/Tom W. Green: Don’t Add To The Heartache
Is it a message, or is it music? Using her voice on all tracks in various ways, Stephanie Lamprea mixes spoken texts, ethereal vocals, electronics and various instruments from guests to create a paean to keeping our planet alive, as…
Leo Lyons Hundred Seventy Split: Movin’ On
Bassist Leo Lyons form a power trio with Joe Gooch/g-voc and Damon Sawyer/dr on a collection of blues-rocking originals. The band has a feel the is akin to Cream and Aerosmith, with tones of catchy licks as on “Walkin in…
TRIO…Stephen Philip Harvey: Library Card
Stephen P hlip Harvey plays a rich tenor and sopran sax on this trio album with Max Murray /b and Jordan Stanley/dr. His tenor has that rich Sonny Rollins feel, lithely swinging on “I Could Write A Book” and palpable…
Juliet Varnedoe: Cajun Bleu
Singing like a chanteuse and playing the accordion, Juliet Varnedoe mixes a Cajun world view with swing on this bohemian ep. She mixes and matches with Jon Dryden/add, Ben Ruben/b-perc, Arnt Arntzen/g, Clark Gayton/tb0tub and Dennis Lichtma/cl through a mix…
GAUNTLET THROWING DEBUTS…
This month we are focusing two young ladies, Ciara Moser and Kinga Glyk, both who are essentially releasing their debut albums. Both albums focus on fresh ideas both musically and socially. So that got me to thinking, what other debut…
CIARA MOSER: BLIND, SO THAT WE MAY SEE
YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF BASSIST CIARA MOSER, BUT HER DEBUT ALBUM BLIND, SO WHAT? SHOULD GET YOUR ATTENTION FOR A FEW REASONS. FIRST, THE MUSIC IS LIKE A MODERNIZED READ OF BANDS LIKE WEATHER REPORT AND HEADHUNTERS, WITH SOME EXCITING…
WOODWIND WONDERS…Glass Farm Ensemble: Nieuw Amsterdam New York, Bandwidth: Where Songs Go At Night
Rich reeds like the bassoon are well represented on these two recent releases from the always forward looking Neuma Records. The three bassoonists Jos Lammerse, Freek Sluijis and Margreet Bongers are joined by violinist Emi Ohi Resnick, pianist Yvonne Troxler…