Category: Ringer of the Week

Want to see what the bass can do? Come along with me… Bassist Georg Breinschmid mixes and matches with a rotating team of musicians in small and cozy group settings from solo to duo to trio and beyond format. Varied…

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I gotta confess; when I first heard of this project by vocalist Jose’ James, I thought, “Another tribute to Billie Holiday? You’ve gotta be kidding? What more can be done.” Well, my friend, plenty. James plays it real smart here,…

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Vocalist Gino Sitson doesn’t release an album very often, so when he does you’d better take notice. I saw him in concert at the old Jazz Bakery a number of years ago and couldn’t believe what this guy could make…

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I’ve liked guitarist Rez Abassi for quite some time, as he mixes well traditional post bop jazz with a dash of Middle Eastern intrigue. This quartet session with Bill Ware/vibe, Stephan Crump/b and Eric McPherson puts him over the top…

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I have no idea how Uptown Records comes up with these gems, but this time they found a cache from a Mother Lode in this collection of concert material from Lennie Tristano and his stellar trend-setting team of Lee Konitz/as,…

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Here’s a sparkling fresh collection of material put together by pianist Linda Presgrave, who wrote and arranged these eleven songs that are divided among three fragrant suites. She leads a basic core trio of Harvie S/b and Allison Miller/dr-perc who…

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While this collection represents a tribute to Bill Evans’ compositions, Jim Norton could easily have subtitled this as a remembrance of another Evans, Gil. The woodwind/bandleader here focuses on the famed pianists work as a writer, but Norgon brings together…

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This music is NUTS! And I LOVE IT! The title of the album literally means “Wasps’ Nest” and that is not only the description of the sound, but of the energy that is emitted from this lead and arranged by…

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This is the about the third album I’ve heard by vocalist Marcus Goldhaber, and each one is a joy. First, he writes a lot of his own material, and it’s all clever, thoughtful, lyrical and swinging. Second, he’s got a…

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Gotta trust me on this one. Yom is a clarinetist who plays the earthier “G” (as opposed to the more normal Bb) clarinet along with bassist Claude Tchamithcian, cellist Farid D and Bijan Chemirani, who takes on a slew of…

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