You can tell by the feel on this session that trumpeter/composer Tom Denielian has kept company as a sideman for the likes of The Temptations, The O’Jays, The Four Tops and The Spinners. This disc has him in a funky…
Author: George W. Harris
Mike Longo & the NY State of the Art: Live from New York
Pianist and composer Mike Longo delivers a well paced and diverse concert here with a big band that is right in the pocket and shifts gears like Mario Andretti. A couple of bop standards such as “Whisper Not” and “Wee”…
The Living Earth Show: High Art
While the title suggests a major sized ensemble, The Living Earth Show actually consists of two Bay Area guys Travis Andrews/g and Andy Meyerson/dr-perc. Mixing art with craft, this album of five tunes veers somewhere between assertive ambience and tongue…
THEY WROTE ‘EM FOR THIS GUY…Fred Astaire: The Early Years at RKO
When you think of the Great American Songbook, who comes to your mind? Why, of course, Frank, Ella and Tony. If you said “Michael Buble’,” please go to the end of the line. What most people don’t know is that…
The Doors: R-Evolution
In retrospect, the Doors were one of the most influential 60s rock bands, mixing jazz, classical and poetry with pop music to create not only a genre of its own, but a mindset as well. This dvd culls together some…
HIP 50s JAZZ SOUNDTRACKS…College Confidential/Synanon, Crime in the Streets/Dino
Here’s a genre that needs to be revisited! Back in the 1950s a ton of “teenage movies” about rebellion, gangs, drugs, romance and juvenile delinquency came out. Ah! The good old days!! Fresh Sound Records has brought together some of…
OH YEAH! Andy Meyers Orkestra: Right Out of Kansas City 1959-1973
Here’s a box set that was made for fans of hard hitting swing. And, the best part is, you’ve probably never heard of this guy Andy Meyers or these recordings. Don’t let that dissuade you: trumpeter Andy Meyers was a…
Carmela Rappazzo: Myths and Legends
New York-based vocalist has carved out an impressive career delivering impressive releases that have featured familiar jazz standards. Her last album featured a single original, and it came out so successfully that this time around she’s upped the ante by…
Matt Criscuolo: Blippity Blat
There aren’t a lot of jazz artists that subsidize their careers by running a pizza parlor, but Connecticut alto saxist Matt Criscuolo mixes flavors, spices and sounds with Larry Willis/p, John Clark/French horn, Gerald Cannon/b and Billy Williams/b on this…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Pat Metheny Band: Kin ( < -- >)
Recently elected to the Downbeat Hall of fame, Pat Metheny shows that he is definitely not resting on either his laurels or his hardys, as he teams together again with Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez/dr and Ben Williams/b with an album…