Pianist Fred Hersch is one of the few modern artists who has what every musician craves: his own identifiable sound. He’s used it on a plethora of various sessions lately. His recent Vanguard concert recordings is only the most recent,…
Author: George W. Harris
Chris Hillman & The Desert Rose Band@Scherr Theatre 11.03.12
At a packed theatre for a fund raiser to build the Greek Orthodox church that he’s a member of, Rock Hall of Famer Chris Hillman brought his acoustically adroit Desert Rose Band to Thousand Oaks and presented music ranging from…
DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER: THE MIDNIGHT SUN NEVER SETS
In this musical era where you could throw a rock in any direction on the corner of Highland and Sunset and hit 5 aspiring jazz singers, Dee Dee Bridgewater has always remained one of the truly great vocalists. Never weighed…
GREGORY PORTER: LIVING WATER
Very rarely does an artist come “out of nowhere” to make an impressive debut. At age 39, when most singers are just finding their groove, Gregory Porter surprised everyone with a stunning debut Water. So many people were impressed that…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Brubeck Brothers Quartet: Lifetimes
Maybe there IS something to genetic engineering. Dan/dr and Chris/b-btb Brubeck, sons of the famed Dave, have been releasing some wonderfully original and exciting music lately. This latest one, with Mike DeMicco/g and Chuck Lamb/p along side the family, does some…
ESSENTIAL MUSIC FROM AVID JAZZ: Gene Krupa: Five Classic Albums Plus, Flip Phillips: Four Classic Albums Plus, Bud Shank: Four Classic Albums
Oh! So this is what a saxophone is supposed to sound like! UK-based Avid Jazz is putting both Mosaic Records and Sony Legacy to SHAME. They put out first rate reissues much more often than the former, and their pricing…
Pat Metheny: The Orchestron Project
If you’re a Pat Metheny fan, you are going to go CRAZY over this double dvd set that documents Pat Metheny’s fantastic sonic experimentation with his self made gigantic music machine, the Orchestron. If you’ve only experienced Metheny’s fantastic album…
Ricardo Fassi’s New York Pocket Orchestra: Sitting In A Song
Keyboardist Ricardo Fassi wrote and arranged all of the material on this very impressive outing that features a hard working septet. The band, featuring a front line of Alex Sipiagin/tp, Dave Binney/as, Gary Smulyan/bs and Andy Hunter/tb gives hint of…
Putamayo Presents Arabic Beat
There are essentially two kinds of Arabic music; one is the type you hear on soundtracks to movies like The Hurt Locker which remind you of hot and sweaty days in a dusty desert, and the other is funky electronic…
Eric Vaughn: Minor Relocation
I like this guy! Pianist Eric Vaughn has a spry and joyous touch to his ivories, with just enough dash of elliptical sounds to make you realize it’s part of his dna, and not a gimmick. He’s featured in mostly…