I just can’t figure out if I like Resonance Records more for their wonderful archival discs like the recent classic sessions by Bill Evans, Wes Montgomery and Freddie Hubbard, or for their forward looking original material by the likes of…
Category: Reviews
CLASSIC REISSUES FROM AVID! Louis Bellson: Four Classic Albums Plus, Grant Green: Four Classic Albums, Shelly Manne: Three Classic Albums Plus
For the either the budget conscious jazz fan, or the one who has to have “EVERYTHING,” you can’t get much better than this UK-based label. Here are their latest trio of 2cd releases, and if you don’t find something in…
Matthew Silberman: Questionable Creatures
Tenor saxist/composer Matthew Silberman leads a quartet with guitar (Ryan Ferreira/Greg Ruggiero), bass (Christopher Tordini) and drums (Tommy Crane). His sound leans toward the thick and edgy, sometimes going on the outer fringe as on “ Gohost of the Prairie”…
Michael Pedicin: Live@The Loft, Bruce Cox: Status Cymbals
THE OTTO LINK MOUTHPIECE LIVES! Here are two releases that have tenor sax players; one as a leader, and one as a sideman. Both guys show a sonic debt to John Coltrane’s “middle” period from ’58-62 when he was literally…
Mahlis-Panos Project: Protoleia
Mixing Mediterranean sounds with a chamber-like jazz feel, Dimitris Mahils brings his oud and guitar together with Anastasios Panos’s percussion and Dan Lutz’s bass to create some Aegean jewels of sounds. The originals like “The Feeling of New” and “Dimi’s…
Grant Geissman: Bop! Bang! Boom!
GUITAR NERDS UNITE! This is the disc you’ve been waiting for! 6 stringed session maestro Grant Geissman, alumnus of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, has released his third cooking little homage to the wonderful axe. Any guy that lists the…
Queen: Greatest Video Hits
Here, you’ve essentially got a summary of 70s-80s rock, and the cause for punk and indie rock to flourish. Queen, the ultimate glam rock group, essentially defined the flashy hard rock genre, and these 2 dvds of their hit tunes…
SONGWRITERS: Neil Sedaka: The Show Goes On: Live At the Royal Albert Hall, Abiah: Life As A Ballad
Ahhh. ..singer/songwriters. So rare these days. Here’s a classic comparison of old and new school. Neil Sedaka has been around since Moby Dick was an anchovy, penning hits from the 50s up until the days of disco. He’s captured…
Jurgen Friedrich: Monosuite-For String Orchestra and Improvisers
You have to believe me when I tell you that I’ve really tried. I’VE TRIED AND TRIED! THERE’S NO MORE EFFORT I CAN MAKE. I’ve listened to scores of avant-garde jazz, used hours of my time attending concerts that have…
Randy Crawford & Joe Sample: Live, Project Grand Slam: Spring Dance, Kevin Toney 3: New American Suite
Is it Smooth Jazz? Is it pop? Is it contemporary R&B? A little bit of all of the above, which used to be called way back when “adult album oriented music.” Polished, accessible, but made for grown up ears. …