Before she formed her highly influential and innovative big band with husband Lew Tabackin, Toshiko Akiyoshi was a hard bop pianist highly inspired by Bud Powell. This two dis set shows her in both trio and quartet format, and she…
Author: George W. Harris
WHEN COUNTRY AND WESTERN WAS ONLY WESTERN…Gene Autry: The Singing Cowboy 1933-52
Before there was “Country and Western”, before there was Garth Brookes, before Bob Wills, before Roy Rogers, before George Jones, before Buck Owens, before Hank Williams, before Johnny Cash, before EVERYBODY…there was Gene Autry. In the beginning… Gene Autry was…
VINTAGE SOUNDS… David Whitman: Ode To Joe, Emmett Goods: Another Level
The main stream of jazz flows well with these recent releases… Drummer David Whitman took his Art Blakey vitamins the mornings of this recording with Bob Sheppard-Rob Lockart/ts, Andrew Neesly/tp, Ryan Dragon/tb, Geoffrey Keezer/p, Bruce Forman-Chris Montgomery/g and Rob Thorsen/b,…
Ted Piltzecker: Vibes On A Breath
Ted Piltzecker keeps the vibes light with a not too big band of Brad Goode/tp, Paul McKee/tb, John Gunther/ts-bcl, Wil Swindler/ts-as, Paul Romaine/dr, Gonzalo Teppa/ba, Javier Diaz/perc and Judith LeClair/bassoon on this textured collection of standards and originals. The team…
Precarious Towers: Ten Stories
The team of Sharel Cassity/as-fl, Mitchell Shiner/vib, Johannes Wallmann/p, John Christensen/b and Devin Drobka/dr get together for some sleek original post boppers. Cassity’s flute is impressionistic, floating on the pastel’d “Tone Poem”; besides that, her alto sax is warm throughout,…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke: Lean In
Vocalist Gretchen Parlato reunites with long time friend Lionel Loueke, both showing much growth since their collaborations almost 15 years prior. The melding of Parlato’s wisp of a voice, at times drifting and other times percussive, works hand in glove…
Jeb Patton : Preludes
Pianist Jeb Patton delivers a series of “Preludes” with his team of John Ellis/ts-ss-fl-bcl, Mike Rodriguez/tp-fh, David Wong/b and Quincy Davis/dr. All except for Ellington’s “Prelude To A Kiss” (which features Wong’s bass work) are by the leader, with some…
Dhaivat Jani PLUS: Sum//Parts
Playing drums, table and vocal rhythms called “Solkattu”, Dhaivat Jani mixes a wide prism of sounds with Lucas Dubovik/ts, Eliana Parker/voc, Dean Michael Davidson-Michael Davidson/vib, Matt Greenwood/g, Joshua Stanberry/p-key and Matt McCormack/b through a wild ride of originals. A mix…
GUITAR AND HORNS…The Schwager/Oliver Quintet: Senza Resa, Noshir Mody: A Love Song
Guitars team up with horns and voices on these recent releases. Reg Schwager plays a variety of guitars and Ryan Oliver switches between saxes nd flutes with a rhythm section of Rick Peck/key, Rene Worst/b and Ernesto Cervini/dr. The team…
BIG TONED TENORS…Don Braden: Earth Wind and Wonder Volume 2, Javon Jackson: “With Peter Bradley” Soundtrack and Original Score, Tim Lin: Empathy
The era of big, bold and bodacious tenor sax players has not completely left us. Here are some classic gents that still hold to the idea that, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, “jazz is 90 percent tone; the other half is chops”.…