This is one of the most fun “outside” albums I’ve heard in decades. The teams of Fo’ (Joseph Doubleday/vibes, Feliz Peikli/cl-bcl, RP/dr) and Mo’(Steve Wilson/ss, Eguie Castrillo/perc) deliver wild, frenzied and wonderfully virtuosic music at a 2013 gig that I…
Category: Ringer of the Week
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Armen Donelian: Sayat-Nova-Songs of My Ancestors
You looking for a new source of music for inspirations? How about The Great Armenian Songbook! Pianist Armen Donelian releases a 2 cd set of songs from 18th Century melodies from his native culture, and bringing them up to the…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Gregory Porter-Donald Smith-Mansur Scott-Paul Zauner’s Blue Brass: Great Voices of Harlem
Not only is it a treat to hear some great modern male singers, but on this disc it’s multiplied by three as the inter-generational team of Gregory Porter, Mansur Scott and Donald Smith take both solo turns and work together on…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Tim Ferguson Inside/Out: Hold That Thought
Bassist Tim Ferguson obviously doesn’t like crowds. He did a nice cozy and spacious quartet date last year with guitarist Tom Dempsey, and now he’s in an unorthodox trio setting with Rob hence/tp-ah and Diane Moser/p for a collection of…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Denny Zeitlin: Stairway to the Stars
First, a disclaimer-I was in attendance at the Jazz Bakery (when IS it reopening?!?) when Denny Zeitlin’s trio with Buster Williams/b and Matt Wilson/dr played for a week back in November of 2001. What went through my mind at the…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Jeff Colella & Putter Smith: Lotus Blossom
I’m a sucker for duet recordings; always have been and always will be. Lonnie Johnson with Eddie Lang, Evans, Pat Metheny with Charlie Haden or Ken Peplowski with Howard Alden-gotta love them all. Here’s a recent one that you’re gonna keep…
****Ringers of the Week****Jimmy Cobb: The Original Mob, Louis Hayes: Return of the Jazz Communicators
Drummer Joke of the Day…”So Many Drummers, So Little Time” Budda Boom! Here are a couple of releases by drummers who go back to an era when drummers had one job: DRIVE THE BAND! Why do so few guys understand…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Benjamin Taubkin: Al Qantara-The Bridge
If you’ve been a bit skeptical of the melding of jazz and sounds from the Middle East, here’s the perfect intro. Pianist Benjamin Taubkin mixes and matches musicians from Brazil and Morocco to create an almost Kind of Blue-ish mood,…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Lili Boniche: Tresors de la musique judeo-arabe
Here’s a style I’m pretty sure you don’t have a major collection of: Arab-Andalusian music. Algerian singer Lili Boniche (1921-2008) was one of the few gents to mix Jewish Sephardic music with traditional Arabic influences and make it bridge both…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Nancy Harrow: Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues/You Never Know
WHO IS THIS CHICK?!?!? I put on this 1960 session by a singer I’ve never heard of, and all I hear for the first few minutes is a hip KC-bluesy jam that sounds like a bunch of Basie alumni having…