One of today’s most influential tenor saxists is Mark Turner, and his horn is featured on a couple new releases. Playing piano and Wurltizer, Mike Yamanaka brings together Mark Turner/ts, Tyrone Allen/b and Jimmy Macbride/dr for a collection of modern…
Author: George W. Harris
Geof Bradfield-Richard D. Johnson-John Tate-Samuel Jewell: Our Heroes
Well, we can tell who the hero is of Geof Bradfield, whop lays tenor sax, soprano sax and bass clarinet with a team of Richard D. Johnson/p-key, John Tate/b and Samuel Jewell/dr, and that hero is STAN GETZ! This album…
BLUES HIGHWAYS…The Bluesland Horn Band: Six, Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind: Behind The Veil, Al Basile: B’s Time
Guitarist Terry Medd leads a road kill team of Marty Cochrane/voc, Ross Hall/dr, Casey Ryder/b, Jan Randle/p, Miguelito Valdez-Doug Zacharias/tp, Barrie Sorensen/ts, Armando Alvarez/bs, Tim K eels/tub and David Wilkie/mand through a Decalogue of blues busters. The horns honky tonk…
The Jim Self & John Chiodini Quintet: Touch and Go
The successful idea of Jim Self/s tuba and John Chiodini’s guitar gets a repeat performance on this encore album along with trumpeter Ron Stout, Kendall Kay on drums and bassist Ken Wild. The whole trick is in the arranging, and…
Rachel Eckroth: Humanoid
Recorded at LA’s famed SamFirst club, pianist Rachel Eckroth teams up with Andrew Renfroe/g, Billy Mohler/b and Tina Raymond/dr for a rich collection of tasty originals. The team sounds well rehearsed, with guitar and piano in amazing unison lines on…
CANARIES SINGING…Maci Miller: Nine, Masumi Ormandy: Beyond The Sea
Philly-based vocalist Maci Miller is teamed up with pianist/co-writer Aaron Graves and a tem of Mike Boone/b, Larry McKenna/ts, Victor North/ss, Byron Landham-Josh Orlando-Leon Jordan/dr and guest Jeremy Pelt/tp for some modern sounding originals and standards. Her tone is reminiscent…
Arina Fujiwara: Neon
Pianist and composer Arina Fujiwara mixes a string quartet with a jazz trio and then some on this evocative collection of themes. On her own, she does a fun solo take of Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” while the strings…
Michael Hawkins: …On Bass
Best known for his work in Cyrus Chestnut’s trio, bassist Michael Hawkins steps out in front on his own as a leader of a band of locals from Richmond Virginia, called The Brotherhood. With them he debuts with a vengeance…
VINYL REVIVAL…Don Cherry: Art Deco, Ella Fitzgerald: Let No Man Write My Epitaph, Roy Hargrove Rh Factor: Hard Groove, Harold Land: The Peacemaker, Oscar Peterson Trio with Milt Jackson: Very Tall, John Scofield: A Go Go
To prove how important the vinyl reissue series from Verve Records is for jazz fans, of the six recent releases from either the “Acoustic Sound Series” or “By Request”, I have previously only heard one of them before. Thank the…
THIS IS A CROONER 101 ….Johnny Hartman: The Singles & Album Collection 1947-58
While he is best known for his classic collaboration with John Coltrane, baritone Johnny Hartman (1923-83) had an impressive career before and after that iconic session. Originally hired by Earl Hines to replace similarly molasses-toned singer Billy Eckstine, Hartman put…