Vibes
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
Transition Sonic
Summit
Innovative vibist Matthias Lupri issues an implied challenge with his latest album, Transition Sonic (Summit): to listen intelligently and repeatedly. His compositional style is so carefully woven that themes recur like old friends in different clothes...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
52nd and Broadway: Songs of the Bebop Era
Mack Avenue Records
Terry Gibbs, the Energizer Bunny of jazz, has a loving tribute to his favorite language, undiluted bebop: 52nd & Broadway (Mack Avenue). It's a paean to bop's architects, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, with ample solos by trumpeter Nicholas Payton...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
Spring Cycle
Random Choice
Ever listen to a CD filled with well-played music by first-rate, dedicated musicians whose credentials should justify its purchase and have to wait, and keep waiting, for something to happen? Vibist Steve Hobbs assembled a stellar group that includes trumpeter...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
Mallet Jazz
Origin Records
Imagine a front line of vibes and marimba-truly mallets in wonderland. On Mallet Jazz (Origin), Tom Collier, percussion-studies director at the University of Washington, and tireless L.A. session man Emil Richards switch between both instruments, backed...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
Duets
Origin Records
Tom Collier and Dan Dean show up again-this time up close and personal-on Duets (Origin). Joined at the hip (very hip) for four decades, they boast a passion for exploration and curiosity greater than Lewis and Clark's. This release, culled from four Seattle...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
Evolution
Mambo Maniacs
It was inevitable: "Take Five" was bound to surface in 4/4 time. Surprisingly, the reincarnation takes place in a Latin context on Jeff Niess and Ensemble Siete's Evolution (Mambo Maniacs). Translating the famous tune, arranger/ bassist Abiud Troche and...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
Fuller Nelson
Sunnyside
Fuller Nelson (Sunnyside) is the sequel to 1989's Full Nelson, which marked vibist Steve Nelson's leader debut. This follow-up was recorded in 1998, with the same rhythmic backing as the previous album-pianist Kirk Lightsey and bassist Ray Drummond-but wasn...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
Modern Vibe
Jazzheads Records
Arthur Lipner's Modern Vibe (Jazz-heads) is well named. Considering the nearly ubiquitous back beat-it is mercifully absent on "Flor de Lis," a pleasant, fast bossa, and modified on "Blue Tango," Lipner's best original-the overall sound is aggressively contemporary...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
The Motive Series
CAP
Mark Sherman is a dedicated jazzoid who simply wants to swing, or paint pretty pictures. He does both on his new CD The Motive Series (CAP). As he explains, he finds it easier to "groove on one motive or rhythmic idea." "Motive #1" is a simple interval of...
June 2005 By Harvey Siders
Next Generation
Concord Records
Recently retired from Berklee's faculty after 33 years, Gary Burton shows off his first new band since '97 on Next Generation (Concord). It's a group of talented youngsters. Ukranian pianist Vadim Neselovskyi, 26, comps unpredictably, from low-register ostinatos...
