Category: Ringer of the Week

I just cannot figure out why everyone loves Michael Buble’. It’s becoming an obsession with me. He’s SUCH A POSER! All my friends think I’m crazy, or jealous (well, he does have a babe for a wife, but I’m content…

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I usually don’t put two separate releases together to make up my Ringer(s) of the Week, but this pair of sessions are so intertwined that to make separate articles would be redundant. You either “get it” or you don’t.  Lord…

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This is the kind of stuff that the label Adventure Music does so well: puts together fresh sounding material that mixes traditional Brazilian with 21st Century inquisitiveness. Guitarist Ricardo Silveira and singer/vocalist Vinicius Cantuaria gather together for a summit meeting…

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Is anyone noticing that bari saxist Gary Smulyan is putting out some of the greatest music the past few years? Last year he did a cooker of a tribute to Ellington’s sax section, and now, well, it’s a different type…

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After getting tired of the limitations and nihilism of rock, and the lack of progress in classical, I ventured out into the unknown world of jazz. It was the music like such played on this cd/2dvd performed by by Terry…

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You may not have heard of composer Ryuichi Sakamot, but odds are that you’ve heard his music. He’s known for eclectic music ranging from techno to symphonic, usually in the form of movie soundtracks such as Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,…

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Remember those great CTI albums with strings and arrangements by Claus Oberman back in the 60s and 70s? Imagine if Henri Mancini wrote and arranged for Bollywood, and Oberman did the final touches, and you get a hint of how…

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I’ve looked at Joni from both sides now From pop and blues, and still somehow It’s Joni’s illusions I recall I really don’t know Joni…at all   I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell, and what was most fascinating about…

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Tenor saxist Joe Lovano has released a plethora of albums with a wide variety of themes, ranging from Sinatra to Caruso tributes with 52nd St. Bebop in between. This one, backed (in the broadest sense of the word) by the Brussels…

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Do you ever listen to an artist and ask yourself “Why haven’t I heard of this guy before?” That’s how I felt after just THE FIRST song on this 2 disc set that covers guitarist Bill Harris sessions with Mercury…

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