Vox
12/16/12 By Christopher Loudon
1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project
Concord Jazz
Manhattan’s most famous music address remains best known for the brief period during the late 1950s and early ’60s when young songwriters like Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Barry Mann and Burt Bacharach were churning out the pop...
12/15/12 By Christopher Loudon
(Re) Generet(ion)
Monsieur
For most of his artistic life, Gregory Generet has toiled as a post-production editor for various CBS news and sports programs, netting three Emmys for his efforts. An ardent jazz fan with a latent desire to become a vocalist, Generet established a wide...
12/13/12 By Christopher Loudon
Black Orchid
Universal
When Malawian vocalist Malia first broke through in the mid-aughts, it was with the dense, production-heavy albums Yellow Daffodils and Young Bones . Overflowing with pop-soul sass, they were filled with both slick originals like “Mr. Candy” and “Richer...
12/11/12 By Christopher Loudon
Soul Shadows
Savant
Wisely adhering to the if-it-ain’t-broke adage, Denise Donatelli follows up 2008’s What Lies Within and 2010’s Grammy-nominated When Lights Are Low with a third partnership with musical director, arranger and pianist Geoffrey Keezer. The title is taken from...
12/09/12 By Christopher Loudon
Soul Flower
RCA Victor
Not since Dusty Springfield invaded Memphis has a white female singer dished up so flavorful a bucket of soul. Robin McKelle’s passion for classic American R&B—not the pasteurized pop produced by Motown, but the raw stuff that poured forth from Stax and...
12/06/12 By Christopher Loudon
Night
Alert
Though Canadian chanteuse Holly Cole and her longtime trio mates, pianist Aaron Davis and bassist David Piltch, released their first live album a few months ago, five years have passed since their last studio session. In the interim, Cole seems to have shifted...
11/29/12 By Christopher Loudon
I Carry Your Heart
Motema
Earlier this fall, a mammoth labor of love by Gary Carner, sax giant Pepper Adams’ biographer and discographer, finally came to fruition with Motéma’s digital release of the five-volume tribute Pepper Adams’ Joy Road Project , featuring contemporary recordings...
11/26/12 By Christopher Loudon
A Ghost in Every Bar: The Lyrics of Fran Landesman
Splash Point
Among lyricists, Fran Landesman was a master of mise en scène , framing immaculate, insightful playlets that could be witty, wicked, joyous or heartbreaking, often all at once. Landesman always delivered the unvarnished truth, simply yet eloquently stating...
11/23/12 By Christopher Loudon
Love Lost and Found Again
HighNote Records
A full decade has passed since LaVerne Butler’s previous album, yet her voice remains impeccably beautiful, her phrasing still pristine and her tone invitingly warm. Also intact, however, is her nagging lack of interpretive imagination. Like the MaxJazz...
09/30/12 By Christopher Loudon
Secret Love
OA2 Records
In 2003, when a 22-year-old Sara Leib made her recording debut with It’s Not the Moon , she exhibited a tendency to favor style over substance, a not-uncommon pitfall among even the most gifted neophytes. All these years later the habit persists, though...
