Originally debuted as a Commission from the 2012 Monterey Jazz Festival, Bill Frisell’s latest collection of 19 short but sweet songs mixes his Beautiful Dreamers Trio and 858 Quartet by infusing the talents of Eyvind Kang/viola, Hank Roberts/cel, Jenny Scheinman/vio…
Author: George W. Harris
****RINGER OF THE WEEK***George Shearing: At Home
Hidden away for almost thirty years, this home recorded session by Shearing with his long time friend/bassist Don Thompson has the two playing music in an intimate and relaxed manner that displays everything that’s right about modern jazz, and like…
CLAPTON MEETS BLUE NOTE- PJ Rasmussen: Adventures in Flight
If you’re a fan of vintage Blue Note sounding jazz, but don’t want to look back, check out this debut album by guitarist PJ Rasmussen. He puts together a cooking little team of Nate Giroux/ts, Danny Reyes/tp-fh, Steve Johns/dr, Adrean…
Bobby McFerrin: spirityouall
Bobby McFerrin gets to the root of American music here, in fact to the root of LIFE with this most recent album that is a tribute to his father, Robert McFerrin Sr., who was a member of the Great Metropolitan…
Mark Sowlakis: Universal Truths
The key universal truth that reed player Mark Sowlakis teaches here is that “tone is everything.” That’s a great lesson to learn for any musician, and whether it’s the clarinet, bass clarinet or soprano sax, and whether the music on…
Marko Djordjevic & Sveti: Something Beautiful 1709-2110
Drummer Marko Djordjevic leads a trio/quartet through some exhilaratingly complex and active originals with his trio team of Bobby Avey/p and Desmond White/b alongside a quartet that exchanges tenor players Eli Degibri and Tivon Pennicott. His active and garrulous drumming…
Bill Cunliffe Trio: River Edge, New Jersey
LA-based pianist Bill Cunliffe is a member of a club that I’ve named “GIPP,” meaning “Genetically Incapable of Playing Poorly.” The select group includes people like Eric Reed and Alan Broadbent among the living and Hank Jones or Tommy Flanagan…
HMMMM-Satoko Fujii New Trio: Spring Storm, Satoro Fujii Ma-Do: Time Stands Still
Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii makes you ask a key question, namely, “when is music jazz, and when isn’t it?” These two recent releases, one in the form of a trio, and one with him leading a quartet, leave us with fewer…
Marlene Ver Planck: Ballads…Mostly
Vocalist Marlene Ver Planck searches through the Songbooks of Cy Coleman and Harry Coleman on this outing with impressive results. With her two trios of Tedd Firth-Mike Renzi/p, Jayu Leonhart-Boots Maleson/b and Ron Vincent/dr, she delivers clever and updated versions…
David Arnay: 8
Here’s an idea that is as clever and unique as it is successful. Keyboardist David Arnay starts the album off with a solo piano tune, in this case “Caravan,” and adds an instrument until you get to the last song…