Pianist and composer Florian Weber creates a suite of sorts for the unorthodox collection of four euphoniums and four trombones (including one bass trombone) to augment his equally unorthodox trio with Anna-Lena Schnabel’s flute and Michel Godard’s tuba. Weber’s piano…
Author: George W. Harris
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****WHO LET HER OFF HER LEASH?!? Gunhild Carling: Jazz Is My Lifestyle
Yeah, I had never heard of her before, either! From that hotbed of jazz, Sweden, comes Gunhild Carling, playing (take a deep breath)…trumpet, trombone, harp, flute, recorder, harmonica, ukulele and the “remin”. She fronts a big band that includes all-stars…
John Williamson: The Northern Sea
Bassist John Williamson brings together Alex Hitchcock/ts, Jonny Mansfield/vib, Jay Davis/dr with guests Immy Churchill/voc and Alex Wilson/p for some classy post bop originals. His thick pulse gives a nice flow for Mansfield on “Other People’s Dreams” and the nice…
THE CLASSIC QUINTET…Miles Davis: The Bootleg Series Vol 8…Miles In France-Quintet 1963/64
Miles Davis’ “Classic” Quintet of Ron Carter/b, Tony Williams/dr, Wayne Shorter/ts and Herbie Hancock/p did not go under-recorded. There are a plethora of single and multi-disc sets of the band, with this collection of the team in various gigs in…
Jeff Kaiser & Eric Mandat: Time Out of Joint
A Ninja Blender mixture of acoustic and electronics are put together on this release by Jeff Kaiser playing trumpet and “live” electronics going toe to with clarinetist and electronitian Eric P. Mandat. There are five musical conversations, all varied and…
Zac Harmon: Floreada’s Boy
Zac Harmon sings, plays guitar and bass with a core team of Corey Lacy/key, Nate Robinson/b, Gino Iglehart/dr and Kingston Livingston/g along with a busload of swampy guests. With the Texas Horns, Harmon gets down and earthy on “Sugarman” while…
Morten Duun: Code Breaker
Guitarist Moren Duun creates impressionistic moods with his team of Brandon Choi/tp, Wouter Kuhne/dr with guests Matthew Sheens/p and Mim Crellin-Theo Bleckmann/voc on this album of originals. Duun’s strums and pickings have a folkish feel, graceful on “Everything You Say…
LADY VOICES AND ORCHESTRATION…Bevan Manson featuring Tierney Sutton: Talking To Trees, Alexis Cole and the Taipei Jazz Orchestra: Jazz Republic, Asha Parkinson: Possession
Women in various musical attire… Arranger, pianist and composer Bevan Manson brings together a collection of his hometown LA’s finest for this richly orchestrated album featuring mostly the vocals of the cool breeze from Tierney Sutton. There’s an ethereal take…
Jimbo Ross: Jazz Passion & Satin Latin
Playing electric five string viola and violin, Jimbo Ross swings with a tone hinting at Stephane Grappelli with his team of Joe Gaeta/g, Stuart Elster/p, Peter Marshall/b and Ron Wagner/dr through a collection of swinging standards and an original. Ross’…
Ben Wolfe: The Understated
Bassist Ben Wolfe focuses on mellow tones on this album with Nicole Glover/ts, Orrin Evans/p, Aaron Kimmel/dr, Russel Malone/g and Sullivan Fortner/p on a collection of originals. Wolfe gives everyone a chance to be in the spotlight and no arias…