Backed by a core team of Peter Eldridge/p-org, Jesse Lewis/g, Matt Aronoff/b, Jared Schonig/dr, Ben Wittman/perc and a handful of cameo guests, vocalist Karen Mack gives ‘girl-next-door’ renditions of standards as well as some originals. She shows winsome flexibility on…
Month: September 2024
Elias Haslanger and Mike Sailors: Elias Haslanger Meets Mike Sailors
Classic sounding hard bop jazz a la Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers is delivered by tenor saxist Elias Haslanger with trumpeter Mike Sailors mixing and matching with Andy Langham-Eddy Hobizal-Ross Margitza/p, Ryan Hagler/b and Daniel Dufour/dr. The catchy themes…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Michael O’Neill: Arrival
Best known for his work with George Benson and Ronnie Foster, guitarist Michael O’Neill shows why he’s one of LA’s first call session men on this tasty album of originals. The album bubbles over with comfort food jazz, nice and…
TONY LEVIN: THE “BEAT” GOES ON
AT AN AGE MOST MEN ARE SITTING AROUND COLLECTING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS, BASSIST TONY LEVIN, AT 78 HAS NEVER BEEN BUSIER. RECENTLY TOURING WITH HIS BROTHER PETE AND THE LA BARBARA BROTHERS OF JOE, PAT AND JOHN IN AN…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Joel Lyssarides & Georgios Prokopiou: Arcs & Rivers
Music of Sparta and Athens are delivered by the Hellenic combination of pianist Joel Lyssarides and bouzouki-meister Georgios Prokopiou on this exciting album of sounds from Mouunt Olympus. There are a couple of exciting runs of the fingers as on…
Anthony Bruno: Cefalu
Tenor saxist Anthony Bruno brings together Andrew Lawrence/keys, Cole Runge/g, Vinny Kabat/b and James Russelll Sims/dr for an upbeat mix of smooth originals. His horn is rich and warm as it blows smoke rings around the spacey keys on the…
LEO’S LATEST…Carolyn Hume and Paul May: Shape of the Night, Pago Libre & Sooon: Friendship-Riffs Ahead!
UK’s greatest exporter of experimentation, Leo Records, has released a pair of fresh sounds. Carolyn Hume plays piano and keys along with Paul May on drums and “intimate metals” on this collection of spontaneous feeling originals. Duke Garwood adds vocals…
Jay Gordon & Blues Venom: Live At Woodystock 2022,
Blues breakers… The Tucson, AZ team of Charles Pitts/voc, Jeff Daniels/b, Richard Rivera/g, Bill Greenberg/g and Kid Dynamite/g bring in some guess for some road kill rockers on their fifth album. The team shows how to boogie on the fun…
FINGER PICKIN’ GOOD! Lightnin’ Hopkins: The Singles Collection Volume 1 1946-53, Volume 2 1951-62
Few artists define a genre of music, but one of them without a doubt was Sam John “LIghtnin’” Hopkins (1912-1982) who was one of the pioneers of electric and country blues, with his unique finger picking style able to play…
Pete Levin: Gil Evans Remembered
Pianist Pete Levin salute4s his days with the famous Gil Evan Orchestra by reuniting with some of the alumni on this fun and swinging recording of a gig at NYC’s Cutting Room. This band was best known for it’s weekly…