I must really be a sexist; first glance at this disc by Sarah Elgeti that had a picture of her face, and I’m thinking, “another vocalist.” WRONG! She plays tenor, soprano and flute, writes all of the stuff here, and…
Category: Reviews
Hristo Vitchev/Weber Iago :Heartmony
Sometimes, you forget that there’s such a thing as simple as beautiful music. Here, guitarist Hristo Vitchev writes and arranges 11 pieces of music designed for himself and pianist Weber Iago, and the result is a collection of music that…
Putumayo World Music: Brazilian Beat
If you’ve got a heart for the infectious groove of samba and bossa nova, this release takes the venerable genre and gives it a kick into the 21st century. The disc comes off like a sampler, with a wide variety…
Paolo Recchia: Ari’s Desire
Italian based saxophonist Paolo Recchia teams up with Alex Sipiagin/tp-fh, Nicola Muresu/b and Nicola Angelucci/dr for a collection of post bop originals as well as shining a different spectrum on some jazz standards. The free from rhythm team lays…
Clazz Ensemble/Frank Carlberg: Federico On Broadway, Tommy Igoe and the Birdland Big Band: Eleven
Here are a couple releases that display the polar opposites of what a large jazz band can accomplish. Pianist/conductor/composer Frank Carlberg leads this mini-big band through seven outside of left field originals. The material consists of songs that have meandering…
Candy Dulfer: Crazy, Citizen Rhythm: Of The People, By The People, For The People
How do jazz artists try to make the music more accessible? Here are a couple of attempts. What do you emphasize? What do you give up? Is this compromise, simply audio entertainment, or is it still an artistic vision? Alto…
Josh Ginsburg: Zembla Variations, Alex Goodman: Bridges
Here are a couple of releases by younger artists that show a bright future for jazz. Both artists have an exceptional compositional quality to themselves, and are able to mix harmony, melody and space for improvisation in clever and intriguing…
Hendrik Meurkens: Live at Bird’s Eye
This guy Hendrik Meurkens puts out some of the best Brazilian music these days. I’ve heard about 5 releases from the vibe/harmonica player, and not one of them is less than exemplary. This is the first I know of that…
Andrea Marcelli Trio featuring Thomas Clausen: Sundance
Sometimes, when listening to a record for the first time, I like to play a simple game. Without checking the liner notes, and just by listening to the music, I try to figure out who the leader in the band…
OH YEAH!!! Charles Mingus: The Complete Columbia & RCA Albums Collection
Before hearing of Charles Mingus, the only jazz I had been exposed to was Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. One Saturday morning, I go visit my friend Bob, who was slowly educating me on the finer points of…