Seasons: Live At the Metropolitan Museum of Art Anthony Wilson

02/08/12 By Michael J. West

Anthony Wilson
Seasons: Live At the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Goat Hill

Seasons is best approached as a DVD release with bonus audio CD, not vice versa. The April 2011 performance features four guitarists (Anthony Wilson, Steve Cardenas, Julian Lage and Chico Pinheiro) on gorgeous, custom acoustic archtop guitars built by luthier...

02/08/12 Vox By Christopher Loudon

Kayla Taylor
You'd Be Surprised
Smarty Kat

Though her early forays were more rock and pop, in recent years Atlanta’s Kayla Taylor has, in partnership with guitarist Steve Moore, found her musical focus with jazz standards. There’s a slight, if persistent, twang to Taylor’s voice that reveals her...

02/07/12 By Thomas Conrad

Larry Vuckovich
Somethin' Special
Tetrachord Records

Pianist Larry Vuckovich makes concept albums, but his concepts are flexible and his illustrations are fresh. Somethin’ Special is mostly about late bop, Blue Note-style. Not a novel idea, but Vuckovich chooses pieces by essential composers that have not...

02/07/12 Undertones By Bill Milkowski

Phil Dwyer Orchestra
Changing Seasons
Alma Records

This 17-piece Canadian big band led by saxophonist-composer Phil Dwyer is augmented by a full complement of 21 strings on this rich collaboration inspired jointly by John Coltrane and Vivaldi. The program is a four-movement suite (“Spring,” “Summer,” “Autumn...

Music of Stevie Wonder and New Compositions: Live in New York 2011, Season 8 SFJAZZ Collective

02/06/12 By Philip Booth

SFJAZZ Collective
Music of Stevie Wonder and New Compositions: Live in New York 2011, Season 8
SFJAZZ

There are lots of advantages to a musical collective, at least the way such an entity is operated by SFJAZZ, the organization behind multiple inspired jazz initiatives in San Francisco. SFJAZZ Collective has an occasionally shifting lineup, sometimes gaining...

02/06/12 Vox By Christopher Loudon

Holli Ross
You'll See
Miles High

After more than a quarter-century with various vocal groups, including the fine, retro-fitted female trio String of Pearls, jazz educator and vocal therapist Holli Ross has pulled an Annie Ross and delivered her first solo album. Ross’ voice suggests a star...

02/05/12 By Sharonne Cohen

Ted Rosenthal Trio
Out of This World
Playscape Recordings

Pianist Ted Rosenthal devotes his 13th recording exclusively to staples of the Great American Songbook, with the expressed intention of “presenting (or deranging)” them in a way that will engage listeners. Mission accomplished: Rosenthal’s harmonic and rhythmic...

02/05/12 Undertones By Bill Milkowski

The Curtis Brothers
Completion of Proof
Truth Revolution

The gifted Curtis Brothers, Zaccai (piano) and Luques (bass), were hailed as a team of rising stars within the Hartford, Conn., scene long before they began making their respective marks in New York. Products of Jackie McLean’s Artists Collective who were...

02/04/12 By Lloyd Sachs

Enrico Rava Quintet
Tribe
ECM Records

Tribe is another lovely, atmospheric ECM album by Enrico Rava, who has enjoyed a strong comeback since returning to the label in 2003 after a long absence. Once again, the trumpeter draws us with consummate control into his comfort zone of slow, languid...

02/04/12 Vox By Christopher Loudon

The Puppini Sisters
Hollywood
Verve Forecast

Listening to the Puppini Sisters is like eating too much peanut brittle. At first bite, the winsome threesome’s chocolate-box harmonies seem mighty tasty, but an entire album of the precise same candy-coated cuteness leaves you craving something—anything—less...