Christopher Loudon
Christopher’s Contributions
05/16/13 Albums
Nearness
Tine Bruhn & Johnny O'Neal
Despite a multifaceted career than spans several decades, pianist Johnny O’Neal is still known to many only for his brief but authoritative appearance as Art Tatum in the Ray Charles biopic Ray . So musically accurate was O’Neal’s portrayal that first-time...
05/10/13 Albums
Fandango
Herb Alpert
The 1960s gave us the Beatles and the Stones, Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin. They also gave us Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Indeed, among the era’s American hitmakers, few came close to matching the popularity of the TJB (none of whom were Mexican...
05/07/13 Albums
Champian Sings and Swings
Champian Fulton
She was tutored in jazz by Clark Terry while still a tyke and gained youthful appreciation of big bands from Red Holloway, Butch Miles and other Basie-ites. In other words, 27-year-old pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton was taught to swing by experts and...
05/04/13 Albums
A Quiet Thing
Madeline Eastman & Randy Porter
A dozen years have passed since Madeline Eastman partnered with the late Tom Garvin for the sublime voice-and-piano Bare: A Collection of Ballads . Since then, Eastman’s go-to pianist has been the equally skilled Randy Porter. Eastman and Porter have recorded...
05/01/13 Albums
Miles Tones
Giacomo Gates
It has long been widely accepted that Kurt Elling is heir apparent to Mark Murphy. But an equally strong case can be made for Giacomo Gates. Indeed, while Elling has advanced to a somewhat distant—some might say higher—plateau, Gates remains truer to Murphy’s...
05/01/13 Albums
Passion of a Lonely Heart
Jana Herzen
Though Jana Herzen is best known in the jazz community as founder and president of Motéma Music, currently home to the likes of René Marie and Gregory Porter, the respected label was actually established so that Herzen could release her debut album, Soup’s...
04/28/13 Albums
Straight From the Heart
Izzy Chait
If you want to disprove F. Scott Fitzgerald’s adage that there are no second acts in American lives, look no further than Izzy Chait. Though his love for music dates to his youth and he sang with the Marine Corps while stationed in Vietnam in the mid-’60s...
04/25/13 Albums
Canto
Tania Maria
Though Canto is being promoted as Brazilian pianist and vocalist Tania Maria’s 25th release, its 10 tracks, culled from 2005 and 2008 studio sessions in Paris and São Paulo, actually pre-date 2011’s Tempo , her cozy pairing with bassist Eddie Gomez. In addition...
04/22/13 Albums
Blossom
Amanda Brecker
Over a decade ago, Brit boy wonder Jamie Cullum chose to call his breakthrough album Pointless Nostalgic , a title that would be ideal for this sincere but rather senseless exercise in backward glancing from Amanda Brecker. A 27-year-old vocalist of impressive...
04/22/13 Features
Molly Ringwald: A Star, Reborn
Former Hollywood teen sensation eleases her vocal-jazz debut
04/21/13 Albums
Smokey Mary
Harry Connick Jr.
Following a prolonged retreat into the worlds of pop covers and Broadway, Harry Connick Jr. is—spiritually, musically and physically—back on home turf. The last time Connick paid album-length tribute to his birthplace was in 2007, with the side-by-side post...
04/19/13 Albums
Lock My Heart
Heather Masse & Dick Hyman
One of the unique joys of jazz is how often, and how seamlessly, cross-generational artists mix. The May-December pairing of vocalist Heather Masse and legendary pianist Dick Hyman is a fine example. Though Masse is best known for her folk and bluegrass...
04/16/13 Albums
New York Voices Live
New York Voices
While it can easily be argued that the Manhattan Transfer remains the gold standard for jazz vocal groups, New York Voices must be considered of platinum hue, if only because of the comparative scarcity of their recorded work. Last year marked the Voices’...
04/13/13 Albums
The Laura Nyro Project
Mark WInkler
When Mark Winkler, a quintessentially West Coast swinger, filled an album with Bobby Troup tunes a decade ago, it was a blissful marriage of hipster sensibilities. Winkler and Laura Nyro seem stranger bedfellows—California cool meets East Coast boho—yet...
04/09/13 Albums
Alive in the Singing Air
Caswell Sisters
Hoosier siblings Sara and Rachel Caswell have lived parallel musical lives, honing their early skills with the same Bloomington teacher, attending Indiana University on full music scholarships and, though violinist Sara is five years vocalist Rachel’s senior...
04/06/13 Albums
Some Like It Hot: The Music of Marilyn Monroe
Rebecca Kilgore & the Harry Allen Quartet
In recent years, vocalist Rebecca Kilgore and saxophonist Harry Allen, two of jazz’s most prolific artists, have regularly united to shape albums around Broadway scores, to date revisiting Guys and Dolls , South Pacific and The Sound of Music . Now the marvelously...
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ReportAbout Christopher Loudon
When the rest of the baby-boomers were wrapped up in the Beatles and the Stones, Christopher Loudon was discovering Sinatra, Fitzgerald and Bennett. Since 2003, Loudon has critiqued upwards of 700 vocal albums in these pages and shaped about a dozen profiles, including Diana Krall, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick Jr., Roberta Gambarini, Jamie Cullum, Nancy Wilson, Curtis Stigers and Dianne Reeves.