This review of Mark Knopfler has to begin with a disclaimer. He first became popular at a time that I had abandoned rock music in order to cross the Jordan for the Milk and Honey of jazz. Eschewing any type…
Author: George W. Harris
ELLA’S DAWN! Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald Decca Sessions (1934-1941)
For a period of time, arguably the most influential drummer and singer in jazz got together for a few brief years and made some of the swingin’-est music ever. Chick Webb, who briefly inhabited this planet from 1909-1939, lead a…
ALBUMS WITH THEMES…Ryan Cohan: The River, Roberto Fonseca: Yo
Most albums consist of an artist leading a single group, or a single group focusing on performing a series of songs. Here, we’ve got artists that mix and match group sizes and sounds in order to convey messages about life…
A REASON TO VISIT DETROIT! Mack Avenue 2012 Superband Live! From The Detroit Jazz Festival
Do you REALLY want to spend the Labor Day weekend in Detroit? This collection of songs from last year’s Detroit Jazz Festival is a pretty good advertisement for throwing caution to the wind and heading out there. I’m not sure…
Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow: Trios
The team of Bley/p, Sheppard/sax and Swallow/b have been in a variety of combinations and permutations for decades, creating some of the most enjoyable music to the ears. Here, they revisit some familiar turf in a fresh milieu. The interplay…
AND THE ORIGINAL MELODY IS? Jessica Jones & Connie Crothers: Live at the Freight, Venissa Santi: Big Stuff-Afro Cuban Holiday
I love when artists create original and exploratory music. It shows that they are trying to do something new with their craft. What I don’t understand is when they take a song that we are all familiar with and create…
Jeri Brown: Echoes
Here’s a singer that’s got something to say! Caught in concert at Catalina’s Jazz Club right here in Hollywood, Jeri Brown and her team of Woody Woods/p, Trevor Ware/b and Clayton Cameron/b deliver an excitingly extroverted set of originals and…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****MOST IMPORTANT LIVING ALTO PLAYER? Kenny Garrett: Pushing the World Away
Since changing labels to Mack Avenue, Kenny Garrett has been having a musical, and possibly spiritual, renaissance. Is it possible to separate the two anyway? Since being one of the “young lions” back in the 80s, he’s been on an…
ETHIO-JAZZ? Mulatu Astatke: Echoes of Ethiopia
You want a new genre of music? How about “Ethio-Jazz”? That’s what producer/arranger/vibist/pianist/keyboardist and leader Mulatu Astatke calls this music, and who am I to argue? It sounds GREAT, no matter what label you want to stick on it. The…
HARD BOP ALIVE AND WELL…Imer Santiago: Hidden Journey
Horace Silver. Art Blakey. Is that your idea of jazz heaven? St. Peter must have given those keys to trumpeter Imer Santiago, as the Hard Bop kingdom is well guarded by this man along with his team of Rahsaan Barber/as-ts-fl,…