Category: Ringer of the Week

Peggy Duquesnel’s idea of this album is so simple and yet so brilliant that it instantly becomes timeless in its enjoyment. What the pianist/composer does is take Christian hymns and melds them with well known classical themes. Sometimes with a…

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This album from a 1967 gig in Vienna is a ringer, as it features Dave Brubeck’s classic quartet of Paul Desmond/as, Eugene Wright/b and Joe Morello/dr without its famed alto saxist (with reason given in the liner notes). So, what…

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There are certain musicians that are the embodiment of not only their instruments, but their style; trumpeter Freddie Hubbard is such an artists. For most of his career, he was the Cock of the Walk on the trumpet, with every…

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If singer Giacomo Gates knew any more about hip, he could be a chiropractor. His latest album (from a highly recommended catalogue) reveals another perspective of the man of the world-turned jazz vocalist. Teaming up with Tim Ray/p, John Lockwood/b…

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Things don’t get any bluesier than back porch picking, strumming and singing by Son House (1902-88), who recorded this album back in 1964, and is finally reissued again. He had a visceral, gut level approach to his singing, while his…

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This is the second release I’ve heard by the vocalist Eugenie Jones, and with this being a 2 disc outing, I’m doubly impressed from the first time, and that’s saying something. She writes a few of the tunes, teams up…

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If you’re a fan of the West Coast Cool sounds of the 1950s, try taking a trip to Holland on this album of guys that drank from the same well. You’re not going to no the names, in fact you…

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Just on the sheer guts alone of making an album featuring four bassists, you’ve got to admire the moxie and creativity of bassist Martin Wind. He forms a quartet with three other bassists in Gregg August, Jordan Frazier and Sam…

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Every year for the past 5 years, Resonance Records gets my vote in my Downbeat Critic’s Poll as “The Best Jazz Label”. How could it be otherwise? They find previously unreleased or hidden recordings from the greatest of jazz artists,…

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I still remember the first time I heard a Charles Mingus album; my “jazz tutor” Bob Carlton put on Mingus Ah Um, with the rollicking horns and bass of “Better Git It In Your Soul” just exciting my ears, preparing…

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