Funny thing about the Fender Rhodes electric piano, it's made the transition from being a sound that screamed "seventies!" to a more timeless one, like the Hammond B-3. Marc Searles shows why on the opening solo on "Fog," the opening track of "Quiet Silence" from Matt Jorgensen and 451. Searles' solo on the Rhodes is not only attractive, it shows how the chime-like keyboard can really anchor a group's sound. Mark Taylor complements the keyboard... read more
Via features a more experienced British musician, saxophonist Tim Garland, working together as a trio with American pianist Keezer and vibes layer Locke, as they did a decade earlier. I've seen this group compared to the team of Gary Burton and Chick Corea, but of course there was no saxophone in that group. Garland adds an extra drive to the formal prettiness that Keezer and Locke set up whether he is dancing ceside them on soprano sax or... read more
Instrumentalist/composer Michael Zilber is better known by fellow musicians than by jazz fans. Born in Vancouver, B.C., he moved to Boston in his late teens, then to New York City about five years later. It didn't take long for his talents to be recognized by artists who frequented that area. Zilber performed or recorded with giants such as Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, the Brecker brothers and Dave Liebman.
Zilber's second album as a... read more
Jazzy sax solos over odd synth soundscapes. Newman starts with sampled sounds and synth washes, overlaying a concretely jazzy soloist -- often Jessica Lurie, a saxophonist with an adventurous but accessible style (check out her pop/fusion band, Living Daylights). A mix of thoughtfulness and fun jamming.
This doesn't apply to Track 5 (see below).
1- Slow, pretty sax tones
2- Bright sax wanderings over synthy soundscape. Cool hand drums... read more
Pianist Sussman was a young player on the NYC loft scene back in the late '70s when he gathered a few of his friends together and made a record. The result was Free Fall, a record that received critical acclaim, but without the financial reward to enable Sussman to keep the band together. The keyboard player ended up teaching at the Manhattan School of Music, writing music for television, work with Hank Jones and even touring with Blood Sweat &... read more
"The cold shower that warms the heart"
In a "modest" way, I quote from a recent report: the universe of jazz is unknowable! We can meet again and again with the recordings of unknown artists, and we can run into music that we immediately fall in love with. I feel like I'm in such a galaxy now, in connection with the new piano album by the pianist Florian Hoefner, "Coldwater Stories." I started to listen to the puppet totally "Hoefner's". As I... read more
The Pacific Northwest is full of jazz musicians who deserve more notice outside the region. The Seattle/Portland trio Scenes is one example. Guitarist John Stowell, bassist Jeff Johnson and Origin Records honcho/drummer John Bishop first came together, along with tenor saxophonist Rick Mandyck, on the 2001 album Scenes. Since that time, Bishop, Stowell and Johnson have produced four more releases under the nomenclature Scenes. The trio's 2010... read more
I'm not sure where the internal contradiction is in Ben Thomas' album, where he plays bandoneon, vibes and percussion with Eric Likkel/c-bcl, Steve Schermer/b Gretchen Yanover/cel, Brandon Vance/v and Jonathan Geer/p. The music seems to make perfect sense, bringing together right Argentine sounds with an occasional klezmer feel. The strings and piano are only together for a handful of songs, making you beg for more, creating a rich framework for... 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