The legendary trumpeter and flugelhorn master Clark Terry led his own big band during the 1970s, and I had the pleasure of seeing this swinging outfit when I lived in Italy during these years. A veteran of both Basie and…
Month: July 2022
Chris Greene Quartet: Playspace2-Play Harder
Playing tenor and saxophone Chris Greene leads an assertive post bop team of Damian Espinosa/p-key, Steve Corley/dr and Marc Piane/b through a rollicking collection of covers and originals on this recording of a concert. On tenor sax, he asserts himself…
Nikola Bankov: Dream Chaser
Alto saxist Nikoa Bankov teams up with his core team of August Korsgaard/ke, Jonas Gravlund/g, Jens Mikkel Mdsen/b, John Riddell/dr and guest Randy Brecker/tp-fh for 8 fusiony originals. There’s a bit of rap by Blacc El on the hip hoppy…
Michael Orenstein: Aperture
Pianist and composer Michael Orenstein brings together his core trio of Logan Kane/b and Myles Martin/dr in a mix and match collection with Barclay Moffitt/ts, Nicole McCabe/as, Sean Harrison/as-ss, Chase Jackson/vibe and Sam Klein-Markman/g through a collection of mostly originals.…
BLUES AND ROOTS…The Hogtown Allstars: Hog Wild
Good time low ceiling’d blues rocking is provided by the 2013 established team of Chuck Jackson/voc-harp, Gary Kendall/b, Pat Carey/ts-bs, Teddy Leonard/g, Howard Moore/tp, Jim Casson/dr and Tyler Yarema/p-org. Jackson sings like, and the band sounds like a vintage Dr.…
MODERN AND VINTAGE GUITAR…Peter Curtis: Pete’s Pandemic Playlist, Aleksi Glick: Guitar & Me
Six strings a strumming… Guitarist Peter Curtis gives a solo album of material that captured his thoughts during the pandemic lockdown. He mixes acoustic, nylon and electric strings on a wide ranging selection of covers, giving a clever Andalusian take…
Peter Schwalm & Stephan Thelen: Transneptunian Planets
Sonic globules are created by J. Pete Schwalm, playing synths, treatments, programming and even voice with Stehan Theln on guitars, keys, synths with bassist Tim Harries, drummer Manuel Pasquinelli and guest Nell Catchpole on voice. The planetary tunes include spacey…
DANCING SHARK SUITS…Hank Ballard, Gary US Bonds etc…On The Dancefloor with a Twist
As jazz drummer Art Blakey famously pointed out, “All music is dance music”. Before the British Invasion and Bob Dylan, American pop music was inundated with “dance crazes”. Later on, there would be steps called “The Jerk”, “The Frug” “The…
TONY IN TRANSITION…Tony Williams: Play Or Die
It seems as the years past, the l egacy of drummer Tony Williams gets larger and larger, with “historical” releases or reissues of his albums as leader or sideman bringing out new aspects of the ground breaking artist. The latest…
TWO VIEWS OF VINTAGE ALTO SAX…Cannonball Adderely Quintet-Benny Carter Sextet: Live In Cologne 1961
Recorded back in 1961, this album features two of the most distinguished-sounding alto saxes in jazz history, making for inspiration and comparison, the soul bopper Cannonball Adderley and the master of classy swing, Benny Carter. Each band gets three songs…