A rich mix of Portuguese folk blues, aka “fado” and various forms of jazz meld together on this fragrant release by Julio Resendo. There’s lively guitar work on “Portugal Celebrates with Red Floweres” while Sub Saharan drums rumble around “Mr.…
Author: George W. Harris
Marius Neset: Geyser
Norwegian composer and tenor saxist Marius teams up with the London Sinfonietta, conducted by Geoffrey Patterson for a thrilling concert at Royal Albert Hall. The evening consisted of a Eight Part Suite, with Neset’s sax giving a melancholic aria on…
SMOOTH SOUNDS…Anthony Bruno: Anthony Bruno
Tenor saxist Anthony Bruno delivers easy on the ears soulful tones with a team of Julius Tucker/key, Andrew Vogt/b and James Russell Sims/dr on this collection of originals. Bruno has a warm yet modern tone, reminiscent of the likes of…
Sinikka Langeland: Wind and Sun
Accompanying herself with an Finnish stringed instrument the kantele, Sinikka Langeland creates dark folk folms with Mathias Eick/tp, Trygve seim/ts-ss, Mats Eilersten/b and Thomas Stronen/dr on this collection of folksy originals. Seim actually gets a bet Stan Getzy on the…
Jeremy Monteiro: Sings
Singaporean Jeremy Monteiro has a feel of vintage Nat King Cole as he sings and plays piano on this release of standards with Tony Lakatos/sax, Ben Poh/b, Hong Chanutr Techatanan/dr and guests including a string section, guitar (Wesley Gehring) and…
Bianca Rossini: Apaixonada
With one foot in the tradition and the other in modern Brazil, Bianca Rossini brings fresh ideas to the timeless tones of Bossa Nova with her latest album of originals. The ten pieces include a mix/match team of Flavio Medeiros-Yuko…
Ross Pederson: Identity
There used to be a musical category called “Adult Contemporary” that basically meant “too strong for smooth and too melodic for wild jazz”. Drummer Ross Pederson fits right in that category on this album with Donny McCaslin/ts, Dave Cook/p-key,Julian Pollack/p-B3…
Melody Gardot and Philippe Powell: Entre Eux Deux-The Paris Sessions
Vocalist Melody Gardot is at her best when she’s most fragile, and pianist Philippe Powell brings out the vulnerable in her on this ep. Gardot aches through the piano strings on the reclined “ This Foolish Heart” and wisps delicately…
Louis Rosen: Love and Ashes
One of the lost talents in these days of musical over specialization is the “singer/songwriter”, back in the 1970s, there was a surfeit if them, you could throw a rock from the corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights and invariably…
VINYL REVIVAL…Dave Brubeck: Jazz at Oberlin, Bill Evans: Sunday At The Village Vanguard
The great thing about vinyl albums is that they make you listen to them the way a record was supposed to be listened to. With about 18 minutes a side, you put on the disc, sit down, star at the…