OK, if you want Christmas music that’s going to get you into a mood of holiday cheer, Egg Nog, mistletoe and Rudolph, this is not for you. If you want some musicians that actually give some thought to the meaning…
Category: Ringer of the Week
****ROTW****Amikaeyla: Being In Love
Boy, there are just so many anonymous sounding vocalists out there, that it’s so refreshing when you come across someone like this lady. She mixes the jazz feel with the soul 60s groove, and her Marilyn McCoo voice is the…
****ROTW****Three Voices: Transitions
Back in the 70s, a label called Pablo Records came up with the novel idea of just getting a handful of musicians together, telling them to play whatever they wanted, and let the tapes (back in those days) roll to…
****ROTW****Joy Road: The Complete Works of Pepper Adams, Alexis Cole: I Carry Your Heart…Sings Pepper Adams
Baritone saxist Pepper Adams had a full career as a sideman for an innumerable collection of artists such as Charles Mingus and Herbie Hancock, as well as leading his own hot little quintet with Donald Byrd back in the 1960s.…
****ROTW****Fred Hersch Trio: Alive at the Vanguard
I know everyone talks about Brad Mehldau or Keith Jarrett being the top two honchos on jazz piano, but lemme tell ya, my money is on Fred Hersch. Like Tony Bennett, he may not put out hits, but twenty years…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Brubeck Brothers Quartet: Lifetimes
Maybe there IS something to genetic engineering. Dan/dr and Chris/b-btb Brubeck, sons of the famed Dave, have been releasing some wonderfully original and exciting music lately. This latest one, with Mike DeMicco/g and Chuck Lamb/p along side the family, does some…
****ROTW****Eddie Gomez: Per Sempre
This seems to be the year of the older generation getting their faces back into the music scene. Chick Corea just put out a hot little trio disc with Eddie Gomez and Paul Motian, and now the famed Bill Evans…
****RINGERS OF THE WEEK****Beverly Kenney: Complete Royal Roost Recordings, Complete Decca Recordings
Attention fans of vocal jazz! This review is for YOU! What Jackie Paris is to male singers, Beverly Kinney is to females. She had an incredibly individual voice all her own, recorded some incredibly moving music, never quite got to…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Jazz Soul Seven: Impressions of Curtis Mayfield
Here’s a great concept for an album, and even better yet, they didn’t blow it. Jazz Soul Seven is made up of (mostly LA) jazz stars Terri Lyne Carrington, Russ Ferrante, Master Henry Gibson, Bob Hurst, Wallace Roney, Phil Upchurch…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Lionel Loueke: Heritage
Guitarist Lionel Loueke has had an impressive career as a sideman with the likes of Terence Blanchard and Herbie Hancock, as well as a fledging go as a solo act. Each of his own releases gets incrementally better, solid and…