Two overlooked facts about alto saxist Paul Desmond: First, he, and not Dave Brubeck, actually composed the classic tune “Take Five” and second, his best work was actually on his own. Due to a handshake agreement, Desmond never hired a…
Month: June 2020
*****BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR?****AN OCTONGENERIAN IN LOVE…Dion DiMucci: Blues with Friends
YES! It’s the same Dion of “and The Belmonts” that gave us doo woppers like “Teenager In Love” or solo material like “The Wanderer” and “Abraham, Martin and John”. What has happened since is that Dion DiMucci found the roots…
Falkner Evans: Marbles
Here’s a balm of vintage hard bop sounds delivered by pianist and composer Falkner Evans as he leads a stellar team through his Jazz Messenger’d inspired originals. The team of Matt Wilson/dr, Belden Bullock/b, Ron Horton/tp, Michael Blake/ts, Ted Nash/as…
THE FUSION FUSE…Allan Holdsworth: Frankfurt ‘86
What this double disc cd/dvd set by guitar legend Allan Holdsworth does is not only make you miss his playing, but the excitement of a concert performance. Will we ever get the chance for this again? I caught him on…
ROCK’S FIRST FUSION BAND…Frank Zappa: The Mothers 1970
This being the 50th Anniversary of Fusion, Frank Zappa is getting a major re-evaluation with his site releasing important material such as the multi-disc Hot Rats album earlier this year, which solidified his reputation as one of the members of…
MEMPHIS SOUL…Eddie Floyd w/ Tony Fletcher: Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood-My Life In Soul
The Memphis stew of southern life, soul and music is presented in this no-nonsense autobiography by iconic vocalist Eddie Floyd, who gave us such hits as “634-5787”, “Raise Your Hand” and the classic stomper “Knock On Wood”. The book’s style…
IT SOUNDS SO EASY…Hank Jones Trio: Live At Jazzhus Slukefter Vol. 2
I made it a conscientious point to go out and see pianist Hank Jones every time he came to the LA area, as I knew a time would come when the good Lord would take him away from us, and…
Marcin Wasilewski Trio w/ Joe Lovano: Arctic Riff
Whether in trio format or associated with late Tomas Stanko, the team of pianist Marcin Wasilewski with bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz have created a clear and crystalline sound. Here, tenor sax titan Joe Lovano rounds out the team…
Spirabassi: Improkofiev
Modern jazz and sounds of Sergei Prokofiev are served by the team of soprano saxist Stephane Spira along with pianist Giovanni Mirabassi, drummer Donald Kontomaou and bassist Steve Wood on the clever session. A pair of Spira originals include a…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Chip Wickham: Blue To Red
This album led by flutist Chip Wickham is a throwback to the vintage days of Impulse!, when you had advanced and forwardly thinking jazz that was both accessible and exciting. He brings together a team of keyboardist Dan Goldman, bassist/cellist…