Guitartistry
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Trio7
Whaling City Sound
Joe Beck is a master of rich chordal voicings, intricate contrapuntal playing and melodic improvisation, as he so ably demonstrates here on solo guitar intros to “But Beautiful” and “Cry Me a River.” He receives sensitive support on those gorgeous ballads...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Borrowed Time
Tone Center
A bona fide fusion guitar hero from the ’70s, Steve Khan has more recently re-invented himself as a practitioner of fluent, warm-toned, bop-informed single-note lines and deft fingerstyle chordal work. He hinted at a new Latin influence on last year’s The...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Self Portrait
Jazz House
Peter Leitch goes out on a limb with this intimate solo outing that showcases his graceful integration of chording, bass lines and melodic improvisation with an unerring sense of swing, in the great tradition of Joe Pass. Along with several intriguing originals...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Intention
Innova Recordings
Amanda Monaco’s second outing as a leader is chock full of thoughtful, provocative compositions rendered with strong conviction and fueled by a sense of group discovery. The session is underscored by the agile, multi-directional drummer Jeff Davis and anchored...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Between the Lines
World Culture Music
Mike Moreno’s appealing tone, cascading lines and inherent sense of lyricism mark him as one of the most outstanding new guitarists since Kurt Rosenwinkel. The talented Texan (a classmate of pianist Robert Glasper at the Houston High School for the Performing...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Mirror
milesokazaki.com
On his ambitious solo debut, guitarist-composer Miles Okazaki has conceived a heady, extended work comprised of three organic suites of strikingly original material that draws on Hindustani classical, South Indian Carnatic, Iranian and Cameroonian music...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Generations
One of the great jazz guitar records of the ’80s was Swinging Sevens by the father-son team of Bucky and John Pizzarelli. That seven-string encounter, recorded long before John would become the vocal star he is today, was strictly instrumental and imbued...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Somebody’s Child
HighNote Records
Jimmy Ponder is a soul-jazz stalwart who occasionally crosses over into the straight-ahead side. His bluesiness is deep-seated and his Wes-inspired approach of playing octaves with his thumb lends a different kind of pop on this outstanding session, where...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Guitartistry
The Slovanian guitarist gathers a cast of all-stars from New York’s alternative jazz scene—alto saxophonist Dave Binney, trombonist Josh Roseman, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Gerald Cleaver—for this potent and wide-ranging studio session cut in one day...
July/August 2007 By Bill Milkowski
Government Cheese
Fresh Sound New Talent
The Slovanian guitarist gathers a cast of all-stars from New York’s alternative jazz scene—alto saxophonist Dave Binney, trombonist Josh Roseman, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Gerald Cleaver—for this potent and wide-ranging studio session cut in one day...
