Category: Ringer of the Week

Trumpeter Eddie Henderson has been around for decades, first making a name for himself with Herbie Hancocks Mwandishi band before putting out some hip albums of his own. Here, he makes a good case for proving the point that he’s…

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Let’s be honest: after listening once to last year’s release of John Coltrane’s famed last recorded concert where he yells and shouts, you’re going to file the download or cd away and never listen to it again. Not so with…

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Not since violinist Niccolo Paganini woke the world up during the turn of the 19th Century has a set of Caprices been so wonderfully stimulating. This time around, it’s Hamilton De Holanda, the maestro of the 10 string mandolin who…

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Whoa! Where’d THIS guy come from?!? FINALLY, A REPLACEMENT FOR MICHAEL BUBBLES. Not that I’m prejudiced or anything, it’s just that HE’S A POSER, and this guy, Johnny Summers, is the antithesis of the overslick overstyled and over sanitized male…

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Yes, Jack Bruce recently departed from this earth, but the decision to make this 2 dvd set a ROTW had no sentimental value to it. Filmed in two  gigs on stage from November 1993 in Cologne, this is a wide…

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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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