Vocalist Matt Barber gives respectful reads of jazz classics with a supporting team of Bradley Young-Marc LeBrun/p, David Enos-Brian Ward/b, Greg Sadler/dr and a collection of guests. His voice is reminiscent of Barry Manilow, clear and warm, as on Broadway-ish…
Author: George W. Harris
Marc Jordan: Waiting For The Sun To Rise
Singer/songwriter Marc Jordan sounds and feels like an early Tom Waits with insightful originals and street level interpretations on this folksy/rock album. He’s mixed and matched with Lou Pomanti/p, Scott Alexander, Mark Kelso/dr and various other guests along with a…
Mike Melito: To Swing Is The Thing
Drummer Mike Melito leads a classic sounding hard bop quintet with Grant Steward/ts, Joe Magnarelli/tp-fh, Jeb Patton/p and Neal Miner/b on a mix of originals and timeless jazz covers. Stewart’s tone and deliver is reminiscent of vintage Hank Mobley, warm…
Steve Lukather: Bridges
One of the last of the guitar studio studs, Steve Lukather puts together a working team of David Paich/keys, Jorgen Carlsson-Lee Sklar/b, Shannon Forrest-Simon Philips/dr and Joseph Williams/keys-voc and Trev Lukather/g-b-synth for a collection of dark rockers. Where his last…
VINYL TREASURES…Ron Carter & Richard Galiano: An Evening With, Larry Coryell: Tricycles, Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love,
In and Out records (not the hamburger franchise) has re-released a handful of vinyl albums that may have gotten overlooked back in the day, and need a second and third evaluation. Have fun! Bassist Ron Carter has not been under-recorded,…
Peter Epstein: Two Legs Bad
For his first album as a leader in almost ten years, saxist/composer Peter Epstein fronts a team of Julien Knowles/tp, Adam Benjamin/p-key, Dave Strawn/g, Zack Teran/b and Miguel Jimenez-Cruz for some mixes of post bop with fusiony ideas. Epstein’s soprano…
Stephen Jones & Ben Haugland: Road To No-Where
No, this album is not dedicated to California governor Gavin Newsome’s tax busting railway system. Rather, pianist Ben Haugland joins forces with Stephen Jones on soprano and tenor saxes for some wonderfully lyrical and conversant duets. Kevin Whalen adds his…
Charlie Apicella & Iron City Meet The Griots Speak: Destiny Calling
Two bands for the price of one are served here, as the Iron City team of Brad Whiteley/org and Austin Walker/dr join forces with The Gritos Speak band of Daniel Carter/sax-fl-cl-p-tp, Charlie Apicella/perc-g, William Parker/b-misc and Juma Sultan/perc. The result…
Paul Tynan & Aaron Lington: Bicoastal Collective-Chapter Six
The longtime team of Paul Tynan on trumpet or flugelhorn with baritone saxist Aaron Lington continues to create clever and original sounds, as shown on their sixth adventure. With Trifon Dimitrov on electric bass and Joe Abba playing drums and…
Johnny Britt: After We Play
Johnny Britt plays with a smooth and sweet style on this joyful album with him leading a mix and match team of Dean Mark/b, Sean Lawson/perc, Marcus Williams/dr, Ricky Peterson/key and Nils/g among other guests. Britt also sings and plays…