Vocalist Cathy Segal-Garcia is featured on this fresh, free and elastic session at the hip LA club The Blue Whale. The lithe team of Jeff richman/g, Gary Fukushima/ep, Brad Dutz/perc and Chuck Manning/ts (not to denigrate the visuals credited to…
Author: George W. Harris
The Puppeteers: The Puppeteers
The quartet Arturo O’Farrill/p, Bill Ware/vib, Alex Blake/b and Jaime Affoumado/dr joing together for some swinging and simpatico sounds on this release. Everyone writes material here, and the moods range from exciting cookers as on “Dreams ofDad” and “To Whom”…
Henrik Otto Donner & TUMO: And It Happened…
Want some fresh and exciting big band charts? Here’s some from a guy you may never have even heard of before. Scandinavian Henrik Otto Donner (1939-2013) was a well known composer in his own country. This collection of his writings…
Juhani Aaltonen: To Future Memories
Juhani Aaltonen plays tenor sax and flute as he reads a team of Iro Haarla/p-hp, Ulf Krokfors/b, Ville Herrala/b, Reino Laine/dr and Tatu Ronkko/perc through seven originals. His thick and crusty tenor broods on p ieces such as “Riminiscence” and…
Kendra Shank & John Stowell: New York Conversations
This delightful duet album between vocalist Kendra Shank and guitarist John Stowell is filled with creativity, surprise and artistic joy. They mix up the tunes with standards and originals, lyrics and sounds as well as Shank bringing in electronic loops,…
Jaco Pastorius: Modern American Music…Period!
Back in 1976, bassist Jaco Pastorius threw down the bass playing gauntlet with a debut album that still astonishes to this day. Jazz solos of bop standards, Memphis Soul and adventurous fusion all came together in a way that set the…
Nicky Schrire: To The Spring
Vocalist Nicky Schrire released an impressive album last year, and is tempting us more with this six song ep of originals. Backed by a sensitive team of Fabian Almazan/p and Desmond White/b, Schrire uses the spartan support to serve as…
Little Feat: Live in Holland 1976
Here’s a cd/dvd that will warm your cockles, if they ever needed warming. The ultimate eclectic 70s band, Little Feat, is caught in their prime on this cd/dvd recording during a concert at the Dutch festival Pinkpop back in June…
HOME GROWN AMERICANA…Carlene Carter: Carter Girl, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell: Live
Besides jazz, country and bluegrass are products of America, and these two releases display a world view and musicianship that deserves the respect of all improvisers and composers. Carlene Carter has been mixing country, blues and rock since her debut…
THIS IS A SAXOPHONE 101…Arnett Cobb: Blues & Ballads
I am one of the judges for the Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, and the most disheartening part of the job is to pick the “Best…” of the year in each category. I used to revel in deciding, “Hmm…was Rollins better…