Here are a couple of releases from a bit of an obscure label. One is from an old fav, the other one a bit more obscure. Fred Hersch is slowly becoming one of my favorite living pianists. He’s always…
Category: Reviews
Christian Scott: Christian aTunde Adjuah
A few years ago, trumpeter Christian Scott told me that he and his band made a covenant to commit 5 years together to work together and explore musical possibilities together. Since then, he released an impressive Yesterday You Said Tomorrow…
Keith Jarrett: Sleeper
AHHH! This is the ECM that I know and love! What we’ve got here is an archive recording of a Tokyo concert from 1979 with pianist Keith Jarrett accompanied by Jan Garbarek/ts-ss-fl-perc, Palle Danielsson/b and Jon Christensen/dr-perc, performing acoustic jazz…
Jay Farrar/Will Johnson/Anders Parker/Yim Yames: New Multitudes
Here’s an interesting concept: take previously unrecorded lyrics by folk legend Woody Guthrie, and put them in a 21st century neo-country setting. These four gents hail from bands like Son Volt, South San Gabriel, Gob Iron and Monsters Of Folk,…
Chloe Brisson: Blame It On My Youth
Vocalist Chloe Brisson glides through a number of standards backed by an A team of Angelenos, with Fred Haas/sax-arr, Bill Mays/p, Marvin Stamm/tp, Ben Williams/tb, Matt Wilson/dr and Martin Wind/b. The band sounds as slick as greased lightning on tunes…
Adam Kromelow Trio: Young Blood
Lead by pianist Adam Kromelow, this trio, with Raviv Markovitz/b and Jason Burger/dr plays post modern jazz with a collection of originals and a few covers. Kromelow’s writing and performing style is a bit elliptical and edgy, going in 2-3…
Papa Grows Funk: Needle In The Groove
Don Cornelius may no longer be with us, but this release which was produced by Allen Toussaint sure would have made the master emcee happy. The band consists of Jeffrey Alexander/dr, Jason Mingledorff/sax, Marc Pero/b, Joh Gros/key-v and June Yamagishi/g…
Mark Sherman: The LA Sessions
Here’s a guy that’s got bebop in his blood. Vibist Mark Sherman teams up with some of the best guys LA has to offer, and creates a cozy yet sizzling dandy of a disc here. Sherman’s cohorts are Bill Cunliffe,…
John Raymond: Strength & Song
Here’s a trumpeter you’re really going to like: bred and grass fed in Minnesota, John Raymond leads a his John Raymond Project which includes Gilad Hekselman/g, Javier Santiago/p,-key, Raviv Markovitz/b and Cory Cox through a collection of material that mixes…
Joey DeFrancesco: Wonderful! Wonderful!
The whole trick of putting together a Hammond B3 trio is not too different from creating a great pasta sauce. It’s all a matter of what basic ingredients you put together, and then how you season and stir it up.…