Icy folk moods and atmospheres are created by Nils Okland on the Hardanger fiddle and violin with Sigbjorn Apeland playing the harmonium. The tones and harmonies are lonely and eerie as on “Valevag” with harrowing strokes for “Grat ikke sote…
Author: George W. Harris
Ryan Meagher: Aftearth
Enclosing his music in a book, guitarist Ryan Meagher brings together Tim Willcox/ts-ss, Andrew Jones/b, Charlie Doggett/dr and Clay GIbrson/p-key to make a soundtrack of sorts to Tina Granzo’s art work of a story. I assume the music goes in…
FOLKSY AND HOME SPUN: The Waymores: Greener Pastures, Joanna Connor: Best Of Me, Tracy Nelson: Life Don’t Miss Nobody, Maia Sharp: Reckless Thoughts
No urban out fitters here… Vocalists and leaders Willie Heat Neal and Kira Annalise give VFW moods with a team of Phil Parlapinao/p, Tony Braunagel/dr, Johnny Lee Schell/g, James Hutchinson-Terry Wilson/b and Dave Pearlman/stg . The harmonies are delicious, as…
John La Barbera Big Band: Grooveyard
Best known for his work with the big bands of Buddy Rich and Buddy DeFranco, John LaBarbera forms a big band that includes brothers Joe/dr and Pat/ts-ss along with all star guests including Steve Wilson/as-fl, Clay Jenkins/tp, Ryan Keberle/tb, Rufus…
Bobby Rozario: Spellbound
Someone has been drinking the waters of Carlos Santana, and his name is Bobby Rozario. The guitarist/vocalist plays with a fiery drive and biting tone, searing through a collection of originals, supplied by a mix of musicians that included Robby…
Yossi Itskovich Octet: Times
Trombonist Yossi Itskovitch brings together a double sax team of Sam Barnett & Charlie Rose along with trumpeter Oscar Lattore, vocalist Tatiana Nova and a rhythm team of Marton Juhasz/dr, Fabio Guovea/g, Nadav Erlich/b and Iannis Oboils/p for a collection…
Ethan Cohn & Sebastian Greschuk: Ensemble Infinity
The team of bassist Ethan Cohn and Sebastian Greschuk on trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone create a rich panoply of musical textures on this fresh and clear release. The melding of the ethereal voice of Tatiana Nova with the remaining…
Benjamin Gisli Trio: Line Of Thought
Impressionist moods sounding like pastels are delivered by pianist Benjamin Gisli and his mates Andreas Soldheim/b and Veslemay Norvesen/dr on this collection of originals and a couple interpretations. Gisli understands the use of silence as a sound, playing notes as…
THIS IS A BEBOP TRUMPET…Dizzy Gillespie 1961-1964; The Classic Phillips Albums
After starting two genres of music, namely bebop and Afro-Cuban, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie looked for worlds to conquer in the early 1960s,with various results. In 1962, he puts together a large ensemble, focusing on compositions by future soundtrack master Lalo…
Frank Zappa: Funky Nothingness
Doesn’t it sometimes surprise you that Frank Zappa never took drugs? I mean, Zappa has to be Exhibit A against the notion that you need artificial stimulants to be artistically creative. This three disc collection is from one of Zappa’s…