One of the attractions to music for me was the knowledge that I was able to see in concert an artist who actually created a musical style or genre. Imagine 200+ years ago being able to say you saw Beethoven,…
Author: George W. Harris
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Stockholm Voices: New Horizon
It’s albums like this that get you excited about jazz again! First, it’s also reassuring that there are other bands in Sweden besides ABBA. Do I get an “Amen”? The group Stockholm Voices consists of Gunilla Tornfeldt/sop, M aria WInther/alto,…
Michael Jerome Browne: Getting’ Together
With a back porch guitar picking and dusty voice, Michael Jerome Browne brings in a series of guests for an album of sublime socials. The company he keeps is impressive, with Eric Bibb on the 9 string guitar on a…
Jacob Young: Eventually
Guitarist Jacob Young puts together a trio with Mats Eilersten/b and Audun Kleive/dr for a collection of fairly concise originals. There is a soft swing to pieces like “The Dog Ate My Homework” and the gracious “One For Louis”, with…
Satoko Fujii: Torrent
Satoko Fujii gives a whole new meaning to the term “solo piano”, as this album has the artist going beyond being alone and just using the traditional ideas of a piano. The title tune has the ivories scrambling and splashing…
LADY AT THE MIC…Ellie Martin: Verdant
Singer/songwriter Ellie Martin mixes moods and ideas with her team of Peter Eldridge/p, Kurt Khranke/b, Olman Piedr/dr, Keith Ganz and a mix of guests. There’s a bliss with her and clarinetist Andrew Bishp for “Living For The Now” while her…
Eric Alexander: A New Beginning
One of the true throwbacks of the tenor sax, Eric Alexander possesses a tone and style rarely heard these days of screeches and navel gazing, preferring the classic sound and feel of players like Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and George…
Matt Ulery: Mannerist
Bassist Matt Ulery creates a pastoral album of 6 tunes in Gil Evans fashion on this recent release. With a rhythm secio of Jon Deitemyer/dr and Paul Bedal/p, he brings in woodwinds of Dustin Laurenzi/ts, Zachary Good/cl, Andrew Nogal/ob, Ben…
Louis Hayes: Exactly Right!
There aren’t many living and active drummers that can be labeled “legendary”, but Louis Hayes is definitely one of them, having played with Horace Silver, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and Oscar Peterson just to name a few. This latest album…
Altin Sencalar: In Good Standing
Trombonist Altin Sencalar mixes earthy Latin ideas with muscular post bop on this album with Art Hirahara/p, Boris Kozlov/b, Rudy Royston/dr, Diego Rivera/ts and Patrick Cornelius/as. The horns mix together well in bold fashion as on the boogalooing “Do It”…