Ever wonder what happened to Blue Note Records? I think their vision and soul got captured by High Note Records, as this NYC-based label puts out some of the best forward/thinking modern jazz around. It’s got the heart of the…
Category: Reviews
Preservation Hall Jazz Band: 50th Anniversary
How many musical entities remember when JFK was president? Well, the Preservation Jazz Hall Band, which has been recording for Columbia/Legacy since those halcyon days, shows why their music, still eternally out of date, but eternally relevant, stands up so…
Melody Gardot@The Orpheum 09.22.12
There are simply so few vocalists out there that don’t sound like they’re trying to sound like someone else, that when someone comes along like Melody Gardot, who not only sings like an original, but composes like one, you’ve got…
****ROTW****Marcus Miller: Renaissance
Bassist extraordinaire Marcus Miller may have finally put out the disc everyone’s been waiting for. It’s got the mix of Soul Train funk along with some thoughtful and consistent compositions, and some impressive chops delivered by the leader and his…
GONNA GET IN THE HOT TUB!! Maceo Parker: Soul Classics, Larry Graham & Graham Central Station: Raise Up HOT TUB! HOT TUB!
One of the last connections to REAL soul music, when the sounds were supposed to be about getting up and having a party, and not stabbing someone with a knife, saxist Maceo Parker teams up with the WDR Big Band…
Carol King: The Legendary Demos
Before there was Dark Side of The Moon, Frampton Comes Alive or Thriller, Carol King’s simple and plaintive Tapestry was the all time selling album. The composer of innocent pop hits like “The Locomotion” put out a debut album back…
STRIDIN’ 88’s-Greg Lewis/Organ Monk: Uwo in the Black, Otmar Binder Trio: Boogie Woogie Turnaround
Here are a couple variations on two traditions of the piano: Monk and Boogie Woogie. Both of which come from the same roots: stride. Hammond B3 maestro Greg Lewis continues his exploration of the Thelonious Monk songbook with an…
Luis Conte: En Casa de Luis
You want percussion? You got it here, in bucketloads, lead by Luis Cone, who plays (take a deep breath) congas, timbales, shakers, guiro, cowbell, claves, shekere, quinto, cajon, African water pots, bottle caps, darbuka, finger cymbals, qraqab, cymbal pans, cymbals,…
David Budway: A New Kiss, Opus 5: Introducing Opus 5, Bob Sheppard: Close Your Eyes
Here’s what post bop sounds like in the hands of a term I’ve made up, called “neo-vets.” A “Neo-vet” is someone who’s not an old timer, but has been around too long to be considered a newcomer. Not overly conservative…
Kat Parra: Las Aventuras De Passion
You probably have never heard of this lady, but she’s released some of the most impressive jazz/latin vocal discs I’ve ever heard. Each time I play her stuff for a Blindfold Test, the listener begs to know when she’s coming…