Reviews
05/01/13 Albums By Christopher Loudon
Passion of a Lonely Heart
Motema
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...
04/30/13 Albums By Sharonne Cohen
Heels Over Head
Amulet Records
Here, drummer Billy Martin, of the inimitable Medeski Martin & Wood, leads his compact avant-brass group through its second release. Its name derived from Shake Your Wicked Knees (a compilation of piano rags, blues and stomps of the ’20s and ’30s), the quartet...
04/29/13 Albums By Britt Robson
Elvin
Jive
Saxophonist Chico Freeman credits the innovative drummer Elvin Jones for taking him on his initial tours of Europe and the major jazz clubs of the U.S., and for procuring and appearing on his first recording as a leader, Beyond the Rain , in 1978. It’s a...
04/29/13 Albums By Michael J. West
Museum Vol. 1
Kevin Harris
There’s no suggestion in pianist Kevin Harris’ liners that Museum Vol. 1 is in any way an exercise in minimalism. The soulful postbop record is crowded with repetition, however, certainly in Harris’ otherwise-admirable originals. Vamps, riffs, phrases and...
04/28/13 Albums By Steve Greenlee
Nilson Matta's Black Orpheus
Motema
Growing up in Brazil, bassist Nilson Matta was obsessed with the music from the 1956 play Orfeu da Conceição and, later, from the film based on it, 1959’s Black Orpheus . Both featured songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá, and that music would be...
04/28/13 Albums By Christopher Loudon
Straight From the Heart
Winds of Change
Hitchcock Media Records
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...
04/27/13 Albums By Mike Joyce
Bringing It Back Home
Mascot
There’s a lot to like about this rootsy excursion. First off, the lineup assembled by Robben Ford, the veteran, Grammy-winning guitarist, is top drawer, with trombonist Stephen Baxter, organist Larry Goldings, bassist David Piltch and drummer Harvey Mason...
04/26/13 Albums By Lloyd Sachs
Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom
The Royal Potato Family
True to its name, Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom wastes no time revealing its fondness for shaking, rattling and rolling. On the opener, “Pork Belly,” we’re greeted by Todd Sickafoose’s huge, bottom-heavy bass tones and the leader’s deep, voluptuous groove...
04/25/13 Albums By Thomas Conrad
Glass Song
L&H
Yelena Eckemoff was born in Moscow and studied at the prestigious Gnessin Academy and the Moscow State Conservatory. She has lived in the United States since 1991, and was a classical pianist until about 2009, when she reinvented herself as a jazz musician...
04/25/13 Albums By Christopher Loudon
Canto
Naive
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...