Vocalist Cassandra Wilson always seems close to putting out the album that she’s supposed to, but never does. Her earthy and husky voice is on and off with many of her releases; the more “jazzy” the backing, the less logical…
Category: Reviews
ROTW: Muddy Waters/The Rolling Stones: Checkerboards Lounge: Live Chicago 1981
****RINGER OF THE WEEK**** Oh, Yeah! Everything is going to be all right this mornin’! If you have ANY desire to hear the blues the way they’re supposed to be played, then sit right down and either watch or listen…
Stephane Grappelli: With Orchestra Plays Jerome Kern
In case you didn’t know, violinist Stephane Grappelli was probably the world’s best ballad player. He had a tone and vibrato that was the envy of every other musician. I saw him a number of times in my early days…
Daniel Smith: Goes Latin Jazz
Bebopping bassoonist Daniel Smith has definitely cornered the market on this unwieldy double reeded monster. He’s put out a couple of other discs, which show the strengths and weaknesses of this instrument. Teamed with an adroit group of Daniel Kelly/p,…
Omer Avital: Suite of the East / Daniel Freedman: Bamako by Bus
****RINGERS OF THE WEEK**** ***OF THE YEAR?*** These latest two releases by Anzic records are going to really impress you. If this is the future of jazz, please sign me up. Imagine! New material by younger artists that isn’t cacophony!…
Moncef Genoud @ Vitello’s 07.12.12
Rain in July? A Swiss jazz musician? Which one is the rarer feature in Los Angeles? Well, they both came to town this evening at the cozy Vitello’s jazz club, as pianist Moncef Genoud and his bandmates Banz Oester/dr and…
Ravi Coltrane: Spirit Fiction
GARBO TALKS!! BLUE NOTE RELEASES JAZZ!! Yes! The label that has recently brought you Jeff Bridges doing country and Norah Jones going Janis Ian has finally put out a disc that USED to have written on its logo: “The finest…
The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie (with Watts, Waters, Green and Zwingenberger): Live in Paris
IT’S THE BOOGIE MAN!!! You want fun? You want what jazz, rock, rockabilly and everything else you ever loved really came from? Here it is, pure and unadulterated. I got hooked on this stuff back in the 70s, and it…
Denny Zeitlin: Wherever You Are: Midnight Moods for Solo Piano
One of the most under-appreciated living pianists, the good doctor Denny Zeitlin puts the great American Songbook on the couch, eschews the group therapy of his regular trio and does solo analysis of nocturnal pieces such as “Las Night When…
Arild Anderson w/ The Scottish National Orchestra / Louis Sclavis-Atlas Trio / John Surman
ECM’S LATEST Arild Anderson w/ The Scottish National Orchestra: Celebration Here are 3 recent releases by the venerable and explorative ECM records, displaying visions that inspire, amuse and befuddle. Bassist Arild Anderson fronts an orchestra directed by Tommy Smith during…