WHEN YOU THINK OF SOLO JAZZ ALBUMS, IT’S USUALLY IN THE FORM OF A PIANO OR GUITAR SESSION. RARE IS THE ALBUM OF A BASSIST ALL ON HIS OWN. BUT IF ANY BASSIST HAS EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD…
Month: September 2021
DAVE HOLLAND: FROM MILES TO ANOTHER LAND
IF THERE’S ANY BASS PLAYER TODAY THAT EMBODIES THE BREATH WIDTH AND DEPTH OF WHAT A JAZZ BASS CAN ACCOMPLISH, DAVE HOLLAND IS ARGUABLY THE POSTER CHILD. MAKING HIS NAME IN THE FAMOUS MILES DAVIS BANDS OF THE 60S AND…
Pat Metheny Side Eye@The Lobero Theatre 09.29.21
The Lobero Theatre is finally open again! Even guitar icon Pat Metheny was celebrating returning to the famed venue, as he walked on stage and confessed “whenever I put together a new band or album, I ask myself how it…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****THIS IS A BOP PIANO…Tommy Flanagan: Solo Piano
Tommy Flanagan was one of those pianists that you just never wanted to miss when he came into town. No matter the setting, he was always classy, tasteful and never played a wrong note. Here, in this 1974 recording, you…
Rajiv Halim-Sharel Cassity-Greg Ward: Altoizm
There are essentially three styles of alto sax in jazz, the warm, lithe of Johnny Hodges, the bright of Jackie McLean and the bold bopping of Art Pepper. You get a taste of all three in the hands of alto…
Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking: The Long Middle
Trombonist, composer and leader Sam Blakeslee gives dreamy soundscapes sans drummer on this fluffy collaboration with guitarist Brandon Coleman, bassist Matt Wiles and alto saxist/pedalist Chris Coles. You might wonder how pedals affect an alto sax, but you’ll hear it…
Pearring Sound: Socially Distanced Duos
Alto saxist Jeff Pearring adapts to the draconian COVID lockdown by recording a series of emotive duos with the likes of drummers Billy Mintz-Francisco Mela, bassists Cameron Brown-Ken Filiano, bassoonist Claire de Brunner, and soprano saxist Daniel Carter. The drums…
Tom Cohen: My Take
Philly based drummer Tom Cohen mixes and matches macho Hammond units with B3ers Joey DeFrancesco or Dave Posmonteir along with tenor saxists Tim Warfield or Ralph Bowen, even throwing in guitarist Steve Giordano for good measure. As you might suspect…
Julian Gerstin: Music For The Exploration of Elusive Phenomena
Musical ethnologist Julian Gerstin plays a plethora of various instruments to explore various sounds from the big wide lockdowned world. There’s plenty of trumpets (Don Anderson), Trombone (John Wheeler), saxes (Michael Zsoldos/as-ts, Jon Weeks/ts-as-bs), keyboards (Eugene Uman) and other rhythmic…
Mike Clark & Michael Zilber: Mike Drop
Any time you have an album with drummer Mike Clark in it, you’re going to get a workshop of how to work the sticks. Here, he teams up with Michael Zilber on tenor and soprano saxes and joined by pianist…