One of the most infectious RB singers and pianists post WWII was Rosco Gordon III (1928-2002) who played in the vein of Amos Milburn, Lloyd Price or early Ray Charles. This two cd, 52 song collection has some of his…
Author: George W. Harris
The Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective: Fiesta at Caroga
Consisting of Brian Stark/ts, Ben Weisger/tb, Eric Devey/tp, Stephen Busath/cong, Sebastian Nassar/timb, Brian Shank/perc, Ian Stewart/b and Jose Guzman/g, the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective reminds the musical world that “salsa” actually means “sauce”, as this album simmers with a wide variety…
Andrew Binder: Conspiracy Deliracy
Bassist Andrew Binder mixes vintage jazz sounds with some clever and quirky ideas on this wide ranging album with a team of Justin Dyar/tp, Brian Stark/sax-fl, Frank Niemeyer/tb, Jose Gobbo/g, Kurt Reeder/key and Maxwell Osawa/dr. The tunes all seem to…
Danette McMahon: No More Excuses
Danette McMahon fits into a category that is unfortunately long forgotten, that of “singer/songwriter”. This album features her own compositions, and they are all clever in terms of lyrical content and each one has some rich and wide ranging musical…
THE GATEWAY TO OILDALE…Wynn Stewart: The Bakersfield Pioneer
In this day of synthesized country music, where the artists are essentially rockers with a cowboy hat and a twang, its easy to appreciate a guy like Wynn Stewart (1934-85), who along with Buck Owens, essentially created what became known…
Will Brahm Quartet@Sam First Bar 01.17.24
In a town overflowing with guitarists, Will Brahm showed the full house at Sam First that he is one of the few six stringers to stand out by successfully having one foot in the tradition and one in the future…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****The Palomar Trio: The Song In Our Soul
The early days of “Hotcha” jazz are delivered by the trio of Dan Levinson/cl-ts, Mark Shane/p and Kevin Dorn/dr on this fun revisitation of songs from The Depression. Levinson is a knockout here, with his tenor sounding like it has…
Bill Anschell: Improbable Solutions
Playing piano and electronics, Bill Anschell brings together a team of Chris Symer/b-eb, Jose Martinez-KJ Sawka/dr, Brian Monroney/g, and Jeff Busch/perc for some exciting originals that veer from progressive rock to hip fusion. There are hints of Weather Report with…
The Adam Deitch Quartet: Roll The Tape
Leading a team of Ryan Zoidis/sax, Eric Bloom/tp, Wil Blades/org-clav and guest John Scofield/g, Adam Deithc plays drum and percussion in a soulful and funky atmosphere of originals. Scofield joins the boogaloo of “Mushroom Gravy” while Bloom bops through a…
Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah
Recently departed tenor sax legend Pharoah Sanders is captured in a collection of 1977 recordings in Germany on this record with Tisziji Munoz/g, Clifton Chase/org, then-wife Bedria Sanders/-harmonium, Greg Bandy/dr and Steve Neil/b. The musicians mix and match throughout, with…