A trip to Brazil has Jean-Pierre Zanella guide you with his alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet and flute along with Pierre Francois/p, Remi Jean Leblanc/b, Paul Brochu/dr and guests Sashana Souza Zanella/voc, Andre Dequech/p, Muhammad Abdul Al Khabyrr/tb and Ron…
Author: George W. Harris
MUSIC OF PEACE AND VICTORY…The 75th Anniversary VE Day Collection
Yes, once there was a time of true good, and true evil, and good was victorious. This two disc set brings back 50 songs that were on the airwaves and juke boxes on May 8, 1945, when Germany surrendered to…
John Lake: Seven Angels
Timeless hard bop and post bop sounds are delivered by trumpeter John Lake as he leads his team of Paul Jones/ts, Michael Thomas/as, Steven Feifke/p, Marcos Varela/b and Jeff Davis/dr through a mix of jazz standards and originals. Of the…
Jordan Seigel: Beyond Images
In jazz, there are pianists that focus on chops, and others that spotlight composing. Continuing the long tradition of pianists like Duke Pearson, Jordan Siegel creates an album that is filled with wonderful melodies, mostly inspired by the Silver Screen…
The Jerry Granelli Trio: Plays Vince Guaraldi & Mose Allison
West Coast Icons Mose Allison and Vince Guaraldi are saluted by drummer Jerry Granelli along with pianist Jamie Saft and bassist Bradley Christopher Jones. The strong suit here is the lyricism of each artist, but Saft adds his own little…
Dr. John: Ske-Dat-De-Dat…The Spirit of Satch
It’s been a year since Dr. John left us to that great Gumbo in the sky, and this reissue of his 2014 tribute to Louis Armstrong is a rich reminder of the Crescent City torch carrier. The album (also available…
SONAR With David Torn: Tranceportation (Volume 2)
Tritone guitars by Stephan Thelen and Bernhard Wagner along with tritone bassist Christian Kuntner and drummer Manuel Pasquinelli bring in guitarist and loopiest David Torn for a quartet of tunes that stretch from nine to almost thirteen minutes. The handful…
Tracye Eileen: It’s Time
This five song ep by vocalist Tracye Eileen is an impressive mix of soul, R&B and sleek jazz. The Kendall Duffie production has Eileen in a George Bensony mood, with a clean tone on “Somehow Someway” with some synth disco…
MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL…Denny Zeitlin: Live At Mezzrow
For the past 10+ years, I’ve had the privilege of voting in Downbeat Magazine in the Critic’s Poll for categories such as “Best Pianist” for the year. I’ll listen to Fred Hersch and think, “He’s the one” but then, I’ll…
A 40 YEAR TRADITION X 2: Soft Machine: Live At The Baked Potato
The 1970s gave us both a legendary jazz club in The Baked Potato as well as the fusion group Soft Machine (which actually formed in ’68), both re-uniting last year in the form guitarist John Etheridge, Theo Travis on saxes,…