For her third solo guitar release, San Francisco-based Mimi Fox blends folk, pop and jazz standards into a collection of accessible, high spirited jazz. Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" opens up the disc with bluesy inflections and impressive double time soloing with bass lines, chords and riffs spread out in even proportion. "Cry Me a River" by nature lends itself to soulful inflection and Fox turns the tune inside-out. A grand... read more
Scott Reeves is a Trombonist, Alto Flugelhornist, Composer and Educator. He has performed and recordered with some of the best Jazz Big Bands playing today like the Dave Liebman Big Band, Bill Mobley's Smoke Big Band, The Oliver Lake Big Band and the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. In addition to all his fine performing, Scott is Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at the City College of New York. He was also on the... read more
Playing solo jazz guitar ain't easy. Unlike piano, on which an unaccompanied musician can do bass lines and/or chords with the left hand and melodies with the right, solo guitar affords few such possibilities, unless the picker uses the tapping technique associated with Mimi Fox's friend Stanley Jordan. On her third solo album out of nine releases, Fox employs the traditional method of fretting with her left and picking with her right as she... read more
This debut release by alto saxist Maddie Vogler displays an uncommon maturity for a variety of reasons. First, unlike most younger artists on record, she shares her space well with her team of Tito Carrillo/tp-fh, Matt Gold/g, Jake Shapiro/p, Sam Peters/b and Neil Hemphill/dr. Second, all of the tunes are her own, and they are quite impressive for the variety and cleverness of the ideas. Hemphill supplies a nifty click clack as the horns both... read more
Pianist Darrell Grant has carved out a worldwide trail from his Pacific Northwest base of operations. His latest release is "Truth and Reconciliation," a two-disc effort that is as honest and earnest as ever. If you ever cross paths with him, he will strike you as a gentle soul - and his musical approach tends to reflect that as well as fluidity. One reviewer said the recording "might be categorized as music to make the world a better... read more
Rich post-bop sounds are delivered by drummer Robby Ameen as he brings in a two sax arsenal of Troy Roberts/ts-ss and Bob Franceschini/ts-ss-bs as well as trombonist Conrad Herwig to front the rhythm team of Edsel Gomez-Bill O'Connell/p-key, Lincoln Goines/b and Mauricio Herrera/perc through some percolating arrangements. The horns weave through the assertive and snappy pieces like "Fast Eye" and they get thick with Franceschini on bari during... read more
Rich ballads and romantic moods are produced by Thomas Marriott, who plays tender trumpet and fluid flugelhorn as he's supported by the orchestrations and programming by keyboardist Ryan Cohen, vibe master Joe Lock, bassist Jeff Johnson and deft drummer John Bishop. The pastoral strings serve as rich drapery as Locke adds thoughtful vibes to Marriott's reflective musings on the elegiac "Dexter's Tune" and lyrical "Forgiveness." Glassy piano and... read more
Accompanied by bass and drums, the Sonny Rollins and Dr. John guitarist plays a relaxed program of his compositions and others by Schwartz & Dietz, The Beatles, Charlie Chaplin and Jimmy Webb. A highlight: Broom's harmonic adventuring in an extended cadenza in "Good Old Days," the Little Rascals... read more
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