“Once upon a time there was a tavern…” Mary Hopkins If you were a jazz fan, life was good in the 1980s. For just $5-10, you could go to one of a plethora of clubs and see artists ranging from…
Category: Ringer of the Week
Quercus: Nightfall
The trio of vocalist June Tabor, pianist Huw Warren and saxist Iain Ballamy get together to create a dreamy mix of folk, moody late night jazz and rich melodic tales. Tabor’s voice is a jewel, and she can make it…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****JUMPIN’ THE BLUES!!! Chuck Willis: The Complete Singles As & Bs 1951-59
One of the truest and purest joys of music has to be the jumping blues, and few guys this side of Joe Turner did it better than Chuck Willis, who unfortunately left us at age 30 back in 1958, way…
Kevin Eubanks: East West Time Line
Guitarist Kevin Eubanks is gifted with sublime talents on both electric and nylon acoustic guitar. He splits the album up divided between two bands, the first half with Orrin Evans/p-key, Dave Holland/b, Nicholas Payton/tp and Jeff “Tain” Watts/dr and the…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****The Ed Palermo Big Band: The Great Un-American Songbook
You’ve got to give kudos to leader/conductor/arranger and alto sax player Ed Palermo just for the moxie of putting together a big band for such an audacious project. The 17 piece jazz orchestra plus two vocalists takes rock songs of…
THIS IS A JAZZ BASS****HISTORICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR?****…Jaco Pastorius: Truth, Liberty & Soul
Resonance Records seems to annually be in competition with itself for the Best Historical Album of the Year Award. Last year, they were 1, 2, 3 and 4 with their Getz, Young, Evans and Montgomery sets, and already this year…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Steve Khan: Backlog
Guitarist Steve Khan puts together a clever concept on this most recent album with Ruben Rodriguez/b, Mark Walker/dr, Marc Quinnones/perc , Bobby Allende/perc and guests including Randy Brecker/tp and Bob Mintzer/ts. Most of the tunes are either arranged by Rob…
JUST KEEP THEM COMIN’, AND NO ONE GETS HURT…Wynton Kelly Trio/Wes Montgomery: Smokin’ In Seattle
Resonance Records continues to dig up sunken treasures like the Count of Monte Cristo as this most recent release features a sizzling night in Seattle’s Penthouse club back in 1966. The music comes from a pair of 1/2 hour radio broadcasts…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Matt Otto with Ensemble Iberica: Iberica
Tenor saxist and composer Matt Otto puts together a thoroughly original, accessible and exciting session that mixes jazz with Andalusian sounds on this clever session. The unorthodox team includes the “Ensemble Iberica (Beau Bledsoe/g-oud, Jordan Shipley/g-cav, Michael McClintock/eg-tres) along with…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Stephane Wrembel: The Django Experiment I & II
Gypsy-inspired guitarist Stephane Wrembel gives tribute to the iconic Django Reinhardt through sound and compositions, but he doesn’t stay glued to the mid 20th Century on this pair of exciting discs. Both albums consist of the leader with Thor Jensen/g,…