Most tribute albums leave me cold, as they tend to detract, rather than add, to the honored artist. This one, organized by trumpeter Jimmy Owens, is done right, for a number of reasons. First, he was smart in that although…
Author: George W. Harris
Mili Bermejo: Love Songs Of The Americas
I’ve never heard anything by vocalislt/compser Mili Bermejo before, but this is her 12th recording, so she’s no fly by nighter. She’s got a rich, warm and earthy voice, and on this release she surrounds herself with a very tasty…
JAZZ IN THE TUNDRA?!?
My wife has been bugging me since we first got married 28 years ago to go on an Alaska cruise. Ugh! What company do we take? Mullet Cruises? Anyway, I succumbed to the 6 day trip, and then we overlanded…
Roni Ben-Hur & Santi Debriano: Our Thing
Roni Ben-Hur is one of the unheralded guitarists on the modern jazz scene. Each of his releases is an impressive display of picking, and his selection of material is stellar. Here, he teams up with Santi Debriano/b and the ubiquitous…
****RINGERS OF THE WEEK****Ahmad Jamal: Blue Moon, Oliver Jones: Live In Baden Switzerland
Just when you give up hope for anything fresh to come from the jazz piano tradition, here come two gents from the “Old School,” meaning: melody, rhythm, style, and above all…their own sound. AHHHH! This is why I love jazz!…
Sean O’Bryan Smith: Reflection
Well respected as a first call session musician, bassist Sean O’Bryan Smith gets together with an all star congregation to deliver music from the most long lasting songbook on earth: Christian Spirituals and Hymns. When you think Crosby here, it…
Alison Wedding: This Dance
Alison Wedding’s style beckons to the era of the sensitive singer/songwriter of the 70s. Think Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, Joan Baez and other “Ladies of the Canyon.” She writes all of the material here, almost all of the themes are…
Amit Friedman Sextet: Sunrise
Here’s a guy that keeps with the jazz groove and sounds, but adds some exciting new ideas along the way. Amit Friedman plays tenor, soprano and flute, and teams up with a band that sounds fairly normal, with a pianist…
Bill Cantrall & Axio: Live at the Kitano
Trombonist/composer Bill Cantrall leads a driving hard bop team through a driving gig at the NYC’s famous Kitano club, demonstrating that classic elements of jazz are still alive and well. The regular team of Stacy Dillard/ts-ss, Rick Germanson/p, Gerald Cannon/b…
Andrea Veneziani Trio featuring Kenny Werner: Oltreoceano
Bassist Andrea Veneziani leads a trio with Kenny Werner/p and Ross Pederson/dr that shows the heart of a bopper as well as the mind of an experimenter. A few “free” vignettes are interspersed between some material like “Segment” that mixes…