I’ve seen him a couple times in the local LA clubs, and Thom Rotella is becoming one of my favorite guitarists. He seems to be filling the spot of the recently retired Kenny Burrell, aptly shown on this album with…
Author: George W. Harris
Art Baden: How Much Of It Is Real
Playing tenor sax, flute and bass clarinet, Art Baden leads a post bop team of Joe Locke/vib-key, Jay Anderson/b and Jeff “ Tain” Watts through a collection of nimble originals. His tenor is most mellow when walking with Locke’s vibes…
Danny Jonokuchi Big Band: A Decade
LA Valley-bred Danny Jonokuchi continues to bring big band swing into popularity with his latest release. Besides blowing a warm trumpet, he even sings a bit on this collection of jazz standards, crooning on a hep cat “This Can’t Be…
Cathy Segal-Garcia: Social Anthems Volume 2
Growing up as a Baby Boomer, vocalist Cathy Segal-Garcia brings up songs that became for her anthems during her coming of age. She delivers impressive reads of songs that hit our emotions, backed by Carey Frank/p-B3, Nick Mancini/vib, Will Brahm/g,…
Courtney Cutchins: Grunge To Grace
Singer/songwriter Courtney Cutchins brings fresh material to the fore on this album of jazzy originals. She’s teamed with David Cook/p-key Nir Felder/g, Matt Clohesy/b, Obed Calvaire/dr, Max Bernstein/g and Daniel Sadownick/perc for the variously m ooded pieces. Her flexible voice…
BEAT @ BAPAC Thousand Oaks 11.18.24
“I haven’t used this guitar for 40 years” Like all great monarchies, the reign of Robert Fripp’s King Crimson has had various epochs. In a stroke of genius, members of the 1980s kingdom in bassist Tony Levin and guitarist/singer Adrian…
Maria Schafer: Here For You
Maria Schafer has a cool, calm and clear voice on her most recent release, as she’s teamed with Jeremy Siskind/p, Zack Caplinger/g, Karo Galadjian/dr and David Reynoso/b on this album of mostly originals. She’s graceful gliding along the pulse of…
LOST NOTES…McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature-Live At Slugs’ Nov 22
Culled from a 1966 gig at the famed NYC club Slugs, these five songs feature all stars McCoy Tyner/p, Joe Henderson/ts, Jack DeJohnette/dr and Henry Grimes/b tearing through a collection of originals and covers that reflects the style of the…
Brian Lynch: 7 x 7 By 7
Trumpeter Brian Lynch mixes ideas of the number seven with his septet session of Craig Handy/ts, Alex Wintz/g, Luis Perdomo/p, Boriz Kozlov/b, Kyle Swa/dr and Murph Aucamp/perc for, you guessed it, seven tunes. Percussionist Aucamp is a rich presence here,…
Zacc Harris: Chasing Shadows
Clean toned guitarist Zacc Harris delivers eight of his compositions with his post bop team of Brandon Wozniak/ts, Bryan Nichols/p, Christ Bates/b and Pete Jams Johnson/dr. He’s got a relaxed sense of time, gentle with Wozniak on the modern sounding…