The comes a point in certain artists where they not only master a certain style of their art, but simply embody it. During the 1950s and 60s, Freddie Hubbard was the living image and sound of what a hard bop…
Month: September 2022
BEYOND GARDEL…Pablo Lanouguere Quartet: Altar
Let’s face it, when you think of music from Argentina, your first thought is either the classic bel canto sounds from Carlos Gardel, or the more sophisticated “new tango” from Astor Piazzolla, and that’ s about it. Argentine bassist Pablo…
ELECTRONIC KLEZMER…Glenn Dickson: Wider Than The Sky
Best known for his work in solo clarinet, Glenn Dickson mixes electronics and loops with a klezmer-toned licorice stick on this meditative collection of calm cantorals. Dickson’s clarinet mixes subtones and pad percussion on the shtetl’d “Pursuing Winds” while stretching…
Billy Drummond and Freedom Of Ideas: Valse Sinistre
Vancouver-based Cellar Music has been turning out some of the best post-bop music around for over the past ten years. Here’s another beaut, led by famed drummer Billy Drummond, and joined with warm toned saxist Dayna Stephens, pianist Micah Thomas…
MUSICAL MESSAGES…Miro’ Henry Sobrer: Two of Swords, Columbia Icefield: Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes
Tone poems, with and without tones Trombonist and vocalist Miro’ Henry Sobrer gives a heartfelt tribute to his father in this semi-operatic album with Ellie Pruneau/p, Hannah Marks/b, RockyMartin/dr, Cole Stover/perc, Zachar Finnegan/tp, Tim Kreis/ts , Francesca Sobrer/voc and various…
Eva Kess: Inter-Musical Love Letter
Composer Eva Kess creates an album mixing music and voice to serve as a kind of healing from the whole COVID pandemic and lockdown. There’s a pastel’d mix of reeds, horns and strings, along with a rhythm section, as well…
Julius Rodriguez: Let Sound Tell All
Pianist and composer Julius Rodriguez sounds like he grew up in the church, with his music and messages reflecting a Sunday morning feeling. The songs range in size and styles, with a classic piano/bass/drum trio bopping on “Blues At The…
Sarah Bernstein: Veer Quartet
Violinist Sarah Bernstein leads a quartet of Sana Nagano/vi, Leonor Falcon/va and Nick Joozwiak/cel through a handful of originals that mix concise soloing with rich ensemble textures. There is a Bartokian sustained tension on “News Cycle Progression” , while the…
Jovia Armstrong: The Antidote Suite
As part of a project called The Black Index Exhibition, the composer/percussionist Jovia Armstrong brought together her Eunoia Society of Leslie Deshazor/vi, Isaiah Sharkey/b and Jeff Parker/g (along with guests Yaw Agyemanvoc, Nicole Mitchell/fl and Amr Fahmy/key0 to compose an…
RIB STICKIN’ GOOD….3 More Sounds: Play Ray Charles, The Richard Braithwaite Quintet: Monk & Other Music
Nothing fussy, just good sounds… Bassist Henry Franklin, pianist Carl Burnett and drummer Robert Turner have jazz resumes longer than Hunter Biden’s arrest record, all three with swing and blues in their dna. This album is a perfect size 42…