Fresh Sound Records continues to uncover overlooked gems from the mines of recordings from the 1950s and 60s. Here are a pair from swinging trios that you may never knew even existed. Dig in, and dig! One of Los Angeles’…
Author: George W. Harris
Sangalang/Fellis/Menk/Turner/Barriles: IRIS
Warm harmonies and solos by tenor saxist Arman Sangalan and trombonist Kirby Fellis dominate this co-op album of mostly band written tunes. Don’t get me wrong, pianist Austyn Menk, bassist Morgan Turner and drummer Paul Barrilles are integral part of…
VINYL REVIVAL…Harold Land: The Fox
The renaissance of vinyl reissues continues with this Desert Island Disc of West Coast saxist Harold Land. He made his name as part of Clifford Brown’s Quintet in the 1950s,but spent most of his time in California, so most jazz…
REED RAPTURE PLUS 1…PRISM Quartet: Heritage/Evolution Volume 3
The classically attuned sax ensemble PRISM Quartet breaks new ground with this recent release that brings in a handful of modern jazz guests for some extra spice and flavor. The PRISM team of Timothy McAllister/ss, Taimur Sullivan/bari, Matthew Levy/ts and…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Heavenly Cream: An Acoustic Tribute To Cream
The 1960s band Cream, made up of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, straddled the high wire of balancing blues, jazz and rock, creating a legion of fans of the latter. Their small catalogue is still in demand, with…
Nikos Chatzitsakos; Tiny Big Band 2
Bassist and leader Nikos Chatzitsakos brings together a swinging unit that focuses on rich charts and melodic solos. Half of the tunes have vocals, with Alexandreia Dewalt “Expressive around the warm horns on ‘Get Out Of Town” and bopping like…
Black Art Jazz Collective: Truth To Power
One of the hardest hard bopping teams around has to be the Black Art Jazz Collective, lead by the front line of Wayne Escoffery/ts, Jeremy Pelt/tp, Josh Evans/tp and James Burton III/tb and a rotating rhythm section of Xavier Davis-Victor…
Jim Snidero: For All We Know
Since I first saw him back in the days when he was a member of the Akiyoshi-Tabackin Big Band, alto saxist Jim Snidero has always impressed me with his delivery and style. On his own, he’s built up an impressive…
LADY VOICES…Ona K: Full
Singing, playing keyboards and supported by a band that includes an accompanying string section, Ona K mixes pop, R&B and world on a dramatic collection of originals. Her voice has a Broadway touch, and is dreamy around the pizzicato’d string…
Norah Jones: Visions
For her latest release, Norah Jones sound particularly extroverted on a bold sounding album produced by Leon Michels, with an in your face dynamic teamed with Dave Guy/tp, Jesse Purphy/b and Brian Blade-Homer Steinwess/dr. Jones is quite strong and emotive…