This is a very artsy jazz project. First, the cover of this album is stunning and painted by John Gunther's talented mother, Judy Gunther. All the music is composed by John Gunther and enhanced by Dawn Clement, whose vocal additions are both unique and beautiful. She is also the creative pianist of this trio, adding electronics. Dru Heller is the timekeeper on both drums and cymbals. You can hear their direction and uniqueness on the very... read more
Nanami Haruta is a new trombone voice on the jazz scene. She's been a professional jazz musician since the age of fifteen.
"I started playing trombone at school when I was eight years old in a band of elementary school students playing jazz, which is rare in Japan," the young lady explains.
In 2019, Nanami Haruta won the most Outstanding Student Award at the Seiko Summer Jazz Camp in Tokyo. She also garnered the attention of trombone... read more
The list of jazz vibraphonists that are household names (in jazz households, that is) is not very long. Not as long as, say, that same list made up of tenor saxophonists. Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson, Gary Burton, Roy Ayers - probably a few others. The fact that you're likely to hear less of this particular instrument in a jazz context than a piano or a drum set is one of its charms. Since its use is comparatively rare, in the... read more
Many modern-day jazz vocalists have been known to touchdown in a few different locales over the course of an album, but few to none get their passports stamped in as many places as Allison Adams Tucker does on the aptly named WANDERlust. Tucker brings her multilingual brilliance and cultural savvy to the fore during this expertly planned travelogue.
Tucker's voice is a beautiful instrument - one that floats, flies, and seduces with its... read more
The Seattle/Antwerp connection shows us the corner where cerebral meets moving easy for a Friday, after hours session where having a drink and chilling out beats fighting traffic. More than background music and not nearly as artsy as it might seem when you aren't listening too closely, this crew brings some different sensibilities to the stew that simmer nicely together. Fun stuff to kick back with.... read more
For his second session on Seattle?s respected Origin label, Thompson has put together a solid quintet and chosen some intriguing jazz compositions, often overlooked by others. The opener is Kenny Dorham?s ?Lotus Blossom,? a hard bop vehicle. Or how about Ornette Coleman?s ?Invisible,? a tricky melody line that nobody has given any attention to for years. Then there?s ?This Is for Albert?, a rather lyrical and tuneful Wayne Shorter creation.... read more
In February, composer and conductor Anthony Branker released his eighth title on the renowned label Origin Records. The content of the new album is the ten-movement suite What Place Can Be For Us? about "seeking and finding a place that can be a refuge, a place of inclusion and belonging for people of color and people persecuted by oppression, war and hunger," as the author himself put it. And he is disappointed that he is not the United States,... read more
In this low-maintenance, upper-end CD, guitarist Bobby Broom strolls softly and intimately through the familiar riches of the Great American Songbook. When you've been playing with Sonny Rollins on and off for 34 years, songs like these become second nature. Rollins would fling them around in spreading orbits of peril to test their mettle. On his own, Broom is far less extravagant and intrusive. He holds them closer, probing carefully with a... 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