An overlooked pioneer of rock and roll, guitarist and vocalist Charlie Gracie (b 1936) is re-evaluated on this fun loving 2 disc set that covers his days with a plethora of labels. Gracie’s voice and delivery was sort of a…
Author: George W. Harris
Peggy Lee: The Ultimate Peggy Lee
Vocalist Peggy Lee was “ultimate” in many ways, as she was able to score hits in almost every decade and musical style. This 22 song retrospective covers here vocal and career range, including the big hits like the sultry “Fever”,…
Sophie Tassignon: Mysteries Unfold
Sophie Tassignon creates ominous and ethereal moods a la vintage Nico with a tone like June Tabor on this album that has her voice in solo and multi-tracked mode accompanied by her synthesizer. Her voice reaches deep into subtones on…
Antonio Adolfo: BruMa-Celebrating Milton Nascimento
Pianist Antonio Adolfo shows good taste in both playing, arranging and selection of material by focusing on the songbook of legendary Milton Nascimento. Adolfo mixes and matches horns, percussion and guitars with a core team of bassist Jorge Helder, drummer…
****RINGER OF THE WEEK****La Lucha: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
The La Lucha trio of John C. O’Leary III/p, Alejandro Arenas/b and Mark Feinman/dr mix and match with a delightful array of guest on this seamless tapestry of sounds. They do a sole piece without any accompaniment and they show…
TODAY’S PIANO…Glenn Zaleski: The Question, Cathlene Pineda: Rainbow Baby, Rajiv Jayaweera: Pistils
Here are modern musings from important ivory carvers. Glenn Zaleski composes most of the pieces for his team of Adam O’Farrill/tp, Lucas Pino/ts, Desmond White/ b and Allan Mednard/dr on this collection of post bop readings. Guitarist Yotam Silberstein joins…
Tom Ranier: This Way
Known as being one of the first call studio piano guys as well as a sideman for guys like Eddie Daniels or Terry Gibbs and Buddy De Franco, Tom Ranier goes smooth, sleek and upscale on this album with Trey…
Sara Schoenbeck & Wayne Horvitz: Cell Walk
Modern sonatas are created by the duet of bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck and pianist Wayne Horvitz, who also adds a dash of electronics here and there on these 17 intuitive originals. The pair trade off taking the lead in songs, with…
Bill Frisell: Valentine
Guitarist Bill Frisell continues his experimentation with combining guitar tones, songs of American folklore and jazz expressions with his recently formed trio of bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston on their initial release. For one track, “Where Do We…
Fawn Fritzen: How To Say Sorry And Other Lessons
Caught in concert at the crossroads of the jazz world in Whitehorse, Yukon, vocalist Fawn Fritzen teams with pianist David Restivo while mixing and matching drummers Tony Ferraro-Kelby MacNayr and bassists Doug Stephenson-John Lee along with guests voices for nine…