South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini creates an exciting trio with Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere/b and Francisco Mela/dr on an 11 track suite dedicated to the traditional goddess. Spiritual factors aside, the music has a feel like classic material from Randy…
Month: August 2024
John Christensen: Soft Rock
Bassist John Christensen mixes jazz with Cumberland Gap moods on this album with Tony Barba/ts, Matt Gold/g-org-key, Joshua Catania/p-key and Neil Hemphill/dr. The team paints a wide variety of pictures, with Gold’s guitars going rural on “Happy Jacks” and portraying…
Richard Wilkins: Empty Seats
Teamed u with Jimi Bott/dr, Paul Brainard/g-tp, Brian Harris-Ed Neuman-Piper Bott/key and LaRhonda Steele/voc, Richard Wilkins plays bass and tenor while singing the blues in tribute to his rocking idols. Opening up with some bagpipes to start things off, Wilkins…
Steve Gadd Band@Catalina’s 08.01.24
At the tender age of 79, Steve Gadd is one of the last living drummers who have influenced countless musicians in his wake. How many aspiring drummers were in attendance at his opening show at the packed Catalina’s is difficult…
Franz Waxman: Legendary Hollywood, Volume 4
One of the forgotton composers of the silver screen was Franz Waxman, overshadowed by others like Herrrman, but hopefully rekindled by this important reissue. Conducted by Richard Mills, The Queensland Symphony Orchestra creates wondrous thoughts with Waxman’s work on the…
CLASSIC DRUM SIGNATURES
One of the joys of jazz is to be able to identify the specific sound, or “voice” of a musician. For some reasons, drummers have a special appeal to me. Maybe because I first noticed drummers with Gene Krupa’s famous…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****THIS IS A HARD BOP TENOR SAX 101…Johnny Griffin: Live In Valencia 92
The confident, hard bopping and muscular yet lyrical tenor sax played by the likes of Johnny Griffen, as recorded here from a 1992 gig in Valencia, Spain, is something that we unfortunately may never hear again in person. Thank the…
Christopher Zuar Orchestra: Exuberance
Modern big band sounds are featured bycomposer and arranger Christopher Zuar, who puts together a 20 plus orchestra conducted by Mike Holober. The charts are quite creative, with some violin work by Sara Caswell teaming up with Glenn Zaleski’s piano…
Jihee Heo: Flow
Pianist Jihee Heo shows herstrong bop chops on this mostly trio album with bassist Alexander Claffy and drummer Joe Farnsworth. Her hands are confident on the bold chords of “I Can See Only One Step Ahead” while she bears down…
Ginmanblachmandahl: What’s To Come
The team of Lennart Ginman/b, Thomas Blachman/dr and Carsten Dahl/p put together an album of modern originals. All of the songs are quite concise, ranging from 2-4 minutes, with Dahl evoking images of pianists ranging from Ellington (“The Rock and…