Alto and soprano saxophonist Rocco John Iacovone fronts a light on feet quartet of Rich Rosenthal/g, Francois Grillot/b and Tom Cabrera/dr through 8 soft and melodic originals. The reeds are soft and fluffy on the melodic and dream “Escape” with…
Author: George W. Harris
Kat Parra: Songbook of the Americas
I’ve liked this lady for a long time; Kat Parra used to be graphic designer for Cisco, and gave up all of the glamour to devote her talents to jazz vocals. She’s a swinger with an overflow of heart. You can…
Ernie Watts Quartet: Wheel Of Time
One of the stalwarts of LA jazz, Ernie Watts has made a successful living in the studios and jazz clubs. It’s easy to hear why on this album with Christo Saenger/p, Rudi Engel/b and Heinrich Koebberling/dr. He’s got a strong…
Michael Blum Quartet: Chasin’ Oscar
Yes, a guitarist is delivering a tribute to a master pianist! What’s even more interesting is that Michael Blum doesn’t sound like like Peterson on strings, nor like Herb Ellis. What’s captured here is an ode to an attitude; sublime…
Monday Michiru: Portraits in Time 2002-2013
This 2cd set is a compilation of the recordings from vocalist and flutist Monday Michiru. She’s got the right dna, being the daughter of Charlie Mariano and Toshiko Akiyoshi (can you imagine the home lessons?!?). The music is a variety…
Zmei3: Rough Romanian Soul
You want something unique? How about a mix of Romanian folk, indie pop and jazz? The team of Paul Turcas/voc, Oli Bott/vibes, Mihai Victor Iliescu/g and Arnulf Ballhorn deliver 15, count ‘em 15 songs that range in moods from noir…
Lisa Lindsley: Long After Midnight
Here’s a lady with a good sense of delivery and style. You can tell that Lisa Lindsley also works as an actress, as each song here with Laurent Marode/p, Jeff Chambers/b, Mourad Banhammou/dr and Esaie Cid/cl-sax-fl come off like a…
GLASPER RUNS THE VOODOO DOWN…Miles Davis & Robert Glasper: Everything’s Beautiful
Miles Davis is still with us! The man who plugged jazz in has now had his music and voice sampled and put into a collection of urban R&B tunes. The right man for the job did it as well. Robert…
Snarky Puppy: Culcha Vulcha
One of the few bright spots for the future of jazz has to be the wide ranging team of Snarky Puppy. Even on their web site, they consider themselves not eclectic, but ecumenical as they label their music “Jazz+Funk+World+Soul+Pop”. This…
Jane Ira Bloom: Early Americans
Jane Ira Bloom continues to be one of the most creative and best sounding soprano saxists around. She sounds only like herself, and plays the same, mixing inside swing and enough outside to keep you interested but not eyes glossed…