Sublime and gorgeously swinging sounds are emanating from the luscious voice of Magos Herrera and her top notch “supporting” cast of bassist John Patitucci, drummer Antonio Sanchez and piano Chano Dominguez. The three stallions are reigned in, and the percolating…
Category: Ringer of the Week
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****THE GREAT SCHUBERT SONGBOOK? Madre Vaca: Winterreise
No, it’s not someone “swinging the classics”, but Franz Schubert does get a go-over with arrangements by Benjamin Shorstein and interpretations by a nifty post bop team consisting of Juan Rollan/sax, Steve Strawley/tp, Lance Reed/tb, Jonah Pierre/p, Jarrett Carter/g, Mike…
THE LAST OF A BREED…Bobby Rush: Rawer Than Raw
10,000 years from now, when the re-excavate the La Brea Tar Pits, they’re going to find the bones of Bobby Rush firmly grasping on to his harmonica, and they’ll make a display of him in the Natural History Museum in…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****La Lucha: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
The La Lucha trio of John C. O’Leary III/p, Alejandro Arenas/b and Mark Feinman/dr mix and match with a delightful array of guest on this seamless tapestry of sounds. They do a sole piece without any accompaniment and they show…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Ben & Winnie: La Proxima Traicion
Here is an album that captures the heart of jazz, mixing improvisation, melody and, of course the historic “Latin Tinge”. It’s just a duet of Ben Bogart on the bandoneon and Winnie Cheung on piano, but what they do is…
R.I.P…Jimmy Heath: Love Letter
Before leaving us January 19 at age 93, one of the last of the living beboppers, Jimmy Heath, left us one last will and testament, a warm album focused on relaxed and timeless ballads. For this last session, Heath teamed…
21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN…Maria Schneider Orchestra: Data Lords
Every album released by Maria Schneider is a sonic event, but this one is particularly important, as it not only contains two discs of music, but it touches on an important topic, namely balancing the tension between living in a…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****ECHOES OF AN ERA…Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin’
Blue Note Records dug deep into its vault and found a jazz version of Eugene O’Neill’s Our Town in this March 8, 1959 session of an early edition of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s classic studio.…
MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL…Denny Zeitlin: Live At Mezzrow
For the past 10+ years, I’ve had the privilege of voting in Downbeat Magazine in the Critic’s Poll for categories such as “Best Pianist” for the year. I’ll listen to Fred Hersch and think, “He’s the one” but then, I’ll…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Larry Willis: I Fall In Love Too Easily
On this album, Larry Willis confirms that he belongs to the group of pianists (including Cedar Walton, John Hicks, Tommy Flanagan and the recently departed Harold Mabern) that are incapable of playing anything less than tasty bop. There’s always a…