Bongwool Lee forms a trio with Kendrick Scott/dr and Luques Curtis/b for a collection of mostly originals. The sole cover is a pastel themed "Bye Bye Blackbird" which as the leader sashay with Scott's brushes, while Lee goes elegiac on a solo "Burning Incense." The team gets assertive on "Repeating Nightmares" and is fun and quirky as Scott gets everyone snappy on "After the Black Dog" Taylor Eigsti brings his Fender Rhodes in for a soulful... read more
Showing once again that his trumpet has one of the clearest, cleanest tones extant, Marriott fearlessly changes course again showing yet another facet to his interests and chops. A reminder of just how nice this can sound when played far from the maddening crowd, Marriott and producer Joe Locke raise their flag and ask 'who needs majors?' if you want to make music that needs to be heard without notes from consultants that can't play. A... read more
One of the things I miss most about no longer living in the Chicago area is seeing and hearing groups like pianist Kelly Brand's Nextet, known only to a small number of enthusiasts in the immediate neighborhood but deserving a much wider audience. One of the musicians I miss most is trumpeter Art Davis, a bellwether of the ensemble who has long been an admirably resourceful improviser and one of the Windy City's unsung treasures.
True story.... read more
The assembly of Josh D. Reed, Peter Epstein, Adam Benjamin, Hans Halt and Andrew Heglund, as Manzanita Quintet the members bring much skill and experience to these creative, unpredictable and modern 10 tracks.
"Hansepts" opens the listen with Heglund's precise drums meshing with Epstein's lively sax prowess in the animated jazz climate, and "Pajaro Dunes" follows with Reed's bright trumpet alongside the animated drums and swift sax that's not... read more
This is big-band jazz, L.A.-style. Orchestrator, arranger and composer Dave Slonaker has now held this Grammy-nominated aggregate together for over 15 years. And it shows. Shifty Paradigms is his third for the label and a fun listen.
"Dash Can" and "Bye Bye Blues" kick things off with forward-charging charts and solos and include standard big band section work, some swing and not a little backbeat. "Blue Windows" cools things off with a... read more
The veteran trio of muscular piano. Overwhelming presence. An exceptional rhythm section of these giants is a powerful fashion. "TAKE THE COLTRANE"。 One of "TAKE THE COLTRANE" certain to be attracted. HAL GALPER. However, HAL GALPER pianist mean, I凄KATTA this, is that honest feedback. I is not ever heard of most of his work. So尚更shock. Monday 6 SJ unconsciously selling just about where the manuscript written in the... read more
Jazz might be called the art of theme and variations, the art applying as much to the theme as the way a musician plays around with it. Everyone knows the themes, the tunes, whether written by a jazz composer/musician or someone working in a showbiz area considered not unadjacent. But rarely does anyone devote as much attention to the tune as unadorned entity as trumpeter Thomas Marriott does on this generally slow-tempo album.
If there is... read more
Benjamin Boone, saxophonist and composer, is also a Ph.D. scholar. He previously released the two distinguished musical volumes of The Poetry of Jazz, and as a Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellow he has traveled to Moldova, Ethiopia, and most recently Ghana for study and music exchange. While in Accra, Ghana, he was astonished to hear mainstream American jazz but with West African tinge. In this album, The Ghana Jazz Collective — a quartet of... read more
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Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Hanna Kay, Cult News (Paris)
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Budapest, Rudolf Radnai
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Dawn Clement - Dear Ms. Dearie
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Michael Dease Big Band - Return Trajectory
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Brad Goode Quintet Feat. Ernie Watts - Live Your Dream: Live at North Street Cabaret
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect