Without looking at the liner notes to see who the artist was, I just started listening to this album. I couldn’t figure out who the leader was. The first thing you hear is a brooding big toned tenor agonizing over…
Month: December 2017
Norah Jones: Day Breaks Deluxe Edition
On this 2 disc deluxe edition of her most jazzy album since her ’04 debut, Norah Jones impresses on a couple of fronts. The original album glows with the influence of her vocal style and pulse, as she teams with…
The Heliosonic Tone-tette featuring Marshall Allen & Scott Robinson: Heliosonic Toneways Volume 1
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sun Ra’s famous album Heliocentric Worlds, alumni Marshal Allen/as-etc and Danny Thompson/bs-fl team up with a group of seven that includes Scott Robinson on the records’ original bass marimba along other instruments, and eight other…
Kayo: Manhattan Sunset
Pianist Kayo Hiraki leads a flexible bop trio with Patrick O’Leary/b and Eric Halvorson along with a handful of guests through some well composed originals and a few covers. Her touch is confident as she slinks with O’Leary’s bass on…
Mostly Other People Do The Killing: Paint
Stripped down to a trio format, Mostly Other People Do The Killing consists of Ron Stabinsky/p, Moppa Elliott/b and Kevin Shea/dr as they mix classic bop sounds with modern quirkiness along the lines of The Bad Plus. As opposed to…
Paul Moran: Smokin’ B3 Volume 2
Paul Moran subtitles this album “Still Smokin’” meaning that the B3er-horn man still knows how to work a groove. As with all things Hammond, the key is in the song selection and pulse, and Moran, along with a pair of…
Bob Ferrel: Jazztopian Dream
Ellington Orchestra alumnus Bob Ferrel demonstrates he learned much from his stint in the legendary orchestra. Here, he leads a big, bold and brassy big band consisting of Vinnie Cutro/tp, Rob Henke/tp, Joe Ford/as, Frank Elmo/as-ts, Roy Nicolosii/sax-tp, Sharp Radway-Hector…
VARIOUS ROOTS…Tom Savage: Everything Intertwined, Petunia and the Vipers: Lonesome, Heavy and Lonesome
Influences from earlier times get modernized. Guitarist/vocalist Tom Savage teams up with Tony Silvestri/key-p, Seamus Cowan/b and Bonz Bowering/dr for nine rootsy originals. His team feels like a barroom team a la Graham Parker and the Roomer on rockers such…
POWER TRIO.. Barry Altschul: The 3dom Factor
Drummer Barry Altschul brings together a hard hitting trio with Joe Fonda/b and Jon Irabagon/ts-ss for a sweaty performance at Krakow’s Alchemia Club in Poland. For the five songs from this December, 2016 gig, Altschul keeps the audience engaged, opening…
NEW BUSINESS FROM NO BUSINESS…Mark Dresser: Modicana, Liudas Mockunas: Hydro, Yedo Gibson/Hernani Faustino/Vasco Trilla: Chain, Ton-Klami: Prophecy of Nue, Harris Eisenstadt: Whateaver Will Happen That Will Also Be, Andrew Lamb/Warren Smith/Arkadijus Gotesmanas: The Sea of Modicum, Bobby Bradford & Hafez Modirzadeh: Live at the Magic Triangle
That hotbed of avant garde jazz, Lithuania, boasts of the label No Business Records. Defiantly experimental and free, this company releases albums in limited editions of usually 300 copies of music that is spontaneous and experimental. Hang on tight! Upright…