I’ve always been a sucker for jazz duets. Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Jim Hall & Pat Metheny…the list could go on forever. There’s nowhere to hide, and if you’re posing, it’s going to come…
Category: Ringer of the Week
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Jazzcraft Studio Recordings 1977-78 featuring Hugh Lawson & Richard Wyands
Here is a fantastic 2 cd set of a pair of blue collar pianists who worked day in and day out as reliable sidemen, just doing their job of accompanying some leader and providing reliably creative music. Never in the…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Kurt Rosenwinkel: Star of Jupiter
Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel should be on the top tier list of important guitarists around, but possibly because of his getting dumped by Verve, or maybe something else, he seemed to get side tracked from the career that seemed so promising back…
****RINGERS OF THE WEEK****REAL HORNS! The Greg Abate Quintet Featuring Phil Woods, Arnett Cobb: Party Time, More Party Time, Movin’ Right Along
These two releases are separated by a half century, but they both have that timeless quality that would have made a fan of either disc, at either session, a fan of the other. Read on… Greg Abate plays alto, soprano,…
LET’S START THE YEAR WITH MORE THAN ONE!***ROTW***HIGH NOTE PIANO PLAYING-George Cables: My Muse, Harold Mabern: Mr. Lucky: A Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr.
Ya know, I really don’t ask for much in life. If you’ve got peace with God, a good family, a handful of faithful friends, a roof over your head and food on the table, you’re ahead of the game in…
START THE YEAR RIGHT****ROTW****Louisiana Red (1932-2012): When My Mama Was Living
If you want the blues, and I mean the REAL blues, like sittin’ on the porch and sounding like Howlin’ Wolf or Johnny Shines, then this little obscurity is going to make your day. Louisiana Red, who just recently left…
****ROTW****EARLY ITALIAN ART: The Buddy DeFranco/Tommy Gumina Quartet: Pacific Standard (Swingin’!) Time, Pat Martino: Alone Together with Bobby Rose
Here are a couple discs that feature two of our best artists in earlier, and more obscure, settings. Lots to like in these rabbit trail releases: Back when JFK was alive and running for president, Buddy DeFranco came up with…
***RINGER OF THE WEEK***George Martin: Produced by George Martin
Not only is this documentary on famed producer George Martin a MUST for Beatles fans, but anyone remotely interested in the history of 60s rock or how the role of a producer changed because of this lanky and understated Brit…
***ROTW***Andrea Brachfeld: Lady of the Island
Here’s a real impressive disc by a lady I’ve never heard before. Andrea Brachfeld plays an assortment of flutes here, sings on one of the tracks, and composes a few others. Meanwhile with a foundational team of Bill O’Connell-Bob Quaranta/p,…
***RINGER OF THE WEEK***James Morrison: Snappy Too
Do you want to talk about chops?!? I saw this guy with Lalo Schifrin’s quartet a number of years ago, and he played an entire song, chorus and mind blowing solo, on his trumpet, and he NEVER TOUCHED A VALVE!!…