Can the accordion make it in a jazz setting? Victor Prieto gives it the old college try, teaming up with Jorge Roeder/b, Eric Doob/dr, Artur O’Farrill/p, John Ellis/sax, and some guests on a collection of mostly originals. He tackles Astor…
Author: George W. Harris
THE GOSPEL ACCORDION TO ZYDECO…Zydeco Crossroads: A Tale of Two Cities, The Kingdom of Zydeco, ALSO: Antibalas: Live From The House of Soul
Two step heaven is presented here in the from of two documentaries by Robert Mugge. The first one, Zydeco Crossroads is the story of a Philly, PA public radio station going down into the deep south of Louisiana in order…
Glauco Venier: Music for Piano and Percussion
Pianist Glauco Venier goes solo, but not in the sense of playing music alone. His classical and romantic style of piano is accompanied by his own dubbed percussive backgrounds and framing. Gongs, bells, metals and things that go bump in…
THIS IS A HARD BOP QUINTET 101…Blue Mitchell & Sonny Red: Baltimore 1966
Just when you start getting used to the jazz that’s being played these days, you get something like this vintage live recording from Uptown Records, and you’re reminded that most of today’s music is terrible. Recorded from the a 1966…
POST BOP QUARTETS FROM UP NORTH…Gilles Bernard Quartet: 4 Rue Durocher, Alain Bedaro August Quartet: Circum Continuum
Here are a couple releases from Effendi Records, a label focusing on the future sounds of jazz. Some artists you may not be familiar with this side of the Canadian border are featured here. Pianist Gilles Bernard leads a gracious…
Daniel Freedman: Imagine That
Drummer Daniel Freedman leads an exotic and warm team of Lionel Loueke/g-voc, Fason Lindner/p-key, Omer Avital/b-oud and Gilmar Gomes/perc through some thoughtful and moving originals and one indie cover. Of the latter, Radiohead’s “Codex” is a cleverly arranged piece, opening…
Labtrio: The Howls Are Not What They Seem
Lander Gyselinck/dr, Anneleen Boehme/b, Bram De Looze/key, Michael Attias/sax and Christopher Hoffman/cel make up the freely flowing team Labtrio. The clever combination of bass and cello make for some rich lower tones, as the strings bow and pick their way…
Maggie Herron: Between The Music & The Moon
Maggie Herron impresses on this album not just with her voice, but with the double barrel of composing all of the pieces here. She teams up with LA all stars Bill Cunliffe/p-arr, Grant Geissman/g, Abe Lagrimas/dr, Dean Taba/b, Alex Acuna/perc…
Kandace Springs: Soul Eyes
Vocalist Kandace Springs delivers an album that gives two dimensions to the phrase “old soul.” On one hand, the Larry Klein produced album has the vocalist teamed up with Vinnie Colaiuta/dr, Terence Blanchard/tp, Jessie Harris/g, Dan Lutz/b, Pete Kuzma/p-key has…
WHY ARE YOU LISTENING TO ANY OTHER TENOR? Stan Getz: Quartet 1960
Yes, I know! Someone’s going to contact me and get on my case about John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins. Don’t even bring up anyone after those guys; just remember that during the time this recording was made, John Coltrane was…