Saxophonics
April 2006 By David Franklin
To Be Again
Blujazz
To Be Again is a well-played, straightahead album by a group of mostly Wisconsin musicians (leader/saxophonist Curt Hanrahan's drummer brother, Warren, lives in Miami). The members of the ensemble are all very good hard-bop-oriented performers playing a...
April 2006 By David Franklin
Mo' Animals
Cacaphony, Inc.
Multiwoodwinds specialist Frank Macchia is also a skilled composer, arranger and orchestrator for film and television. Mo' Animals is the third album on which he paints convincing musical pictures of members of the animal kingdom through a combination of...
April 2006 By David Franklin
Red
Origin Records
If Paul Desmond was, as he proclaimed, the "world's slowest alto player," then Matt Otto may be the world's quietest tenor man. On the eight originals that comprise Red, Otto's dynamics rarely rise above the level of an intimate conversation. His delivery...
April 2006 By David Franklin
Bebop United
MCG Jazz
It's ironic that versatile woodwinds specialist Tom Scott's Bebop United is billed as a "return back to his traditional bebop roots," because one such homecoming, albeit temporary, had already taken place in 1992 with the release of his Born Again. Indeed...
April 2006 By David Franklin
It Could Be Anything
Fresh Sound New Talent
The award-winning altoist Loren Stillman's It Could Be Anything, his sixth, offers a refreshing change of pace from the plethora of neobop CDs coming from many other youthful players. Stillman's unique identity derives from both his playing and his compositions...
April 2006 By David Franklin
Spirit Song
Flying Dolphin
While Ernie Watts has been playing tenor with the likes of Carole King, Steely Dan and Marvin Gaye, he's also been performing first-rate jazz with such groups as Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his own straightahead quartet. Spirit Song is a product of...
April 2006 By David Franklin
The Future Was Yesterday
Origin Records
Although John Coltrane was a primary inspiration, Chicago tenorist/sopranoist Brad Wheeler has honed his Coltrane-influenced tone into a thing of beauty all his own. His exquisite diminuendos as the tone evenly fades away demonstrate a control rarely encountered...
January/February 2006 By David Franklin
Back on Top
Jazz Excursion
It's been over three decades since a young Richie Cole brought his Phil Woods-style alto to the Buddy Rich band. Since that time, Cole has progressively made his name as a virtuosic follower of Charlie Parker via Woods, recording more than two dozen albums...
January/February 2006 By David Franklin
Faith
Black Warrior
Faith, released on Irby's own Black Warrior label, is the altoist's second album since his initial two recordings for Blue Note in 1997 and 1998. A veteran of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the bands of Roy Hargrove and Elvin Jones, Irby is a self...
January/February 2006 By David Franklin
If the Sea Replied
Sirocco Jazz
Following several other Tim Garland recordings with nature-related titles, If the Sea Replied is a fully realized compositional/improvisational suite of program music that celebrates the romantic history of the lighthouse and honors the disappearing profession...
