Steve Slagle: Alto Manhattan (Panorama)
Alto Manhattan, named for the New York City borough where alto saxophonist and flutist Steve Slagle resides, is a mixed bag of Latin music, ballads … Read More “Steve Slagle: Alto Manhattan (Panorama)”
Owen Cordle
Dave Stryker: Eight Track II (Strikezone)
As an alumnus of stints with organist Jack McDuff and tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, guitarist Dave Stryker knows how to please hardcore jazz heads as … Read More “Dave Stryker: Eight Track II (Strikezone)”
Joey DeFrancesco: Trip Mode
Joey the Aggressor has emerged with this album. With new guitarist Dan Wilson and new drummer Jason Brown, the organist’s trio harkens back to-as liner-note … Read More “Joey DeFrancesco: Trip Mode”
Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio: Live in Studio
This album was recorded with a studio audience present and without rehearsals and formal arrangements, and it is a testimony to the power of spontaneity … Read More “Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio: Live in Studio”
Houston Person: Something Personal
Something Personal is a typical offering from veteran tenor saxophonist Houston Person: warm ballads, an R&B cooker, a couple of standards with a bossa-nova beat … Read More “Houston Person: Something Personal”
Steve Slagle & Bill O’Connell: The Power of Two
You’ve heard the expression about there being “strength in numbers.” In the case of Steve Slagle and Bill O’Connell’s The Power of Two, two is … Read More “Steve Slagle & Bill O’Connell: The Power of Two”
Grant Stewart: Trio
Working with Paul Sikivie on bass and brother Phil Stewart on drums throughout TRIO, tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart exhibits a big, direct tone and, in … Read More “Grant Stewart: Trio”
Dave Stryker: Messin’ With Mr. T
The bluesy, soulful guitarist Dave Stryker played in tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine’s band from 1986 through 1995. On Messin’ With Mr. T, he invites 10 … Read More “Dave Stryker: Messin’ With Mr. T”
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer
Bob Brookmeyer was a charter member of the Jazz Band, otherwise known as the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and eventually the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. From … Read More “Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer”
Afro Bop Alliance: Angel Eyes
The most unusual feature of the septet Afro Bop Alliance is the presence of steel pans in the frontline alongside trumpet and alto and tenor … Read More “Afro Bop Alliance: Angel Eyes”
Mack Avenue Superband: Live From the Detroit Jazz Festival–2013
Supergroups don’t always live up to the billing, but this one does. A sequel to the SuperBand’s 2012 Detroit Jazz Festival recording, this album features … Read More “Mack Avenue Superband: Live From the Detroit Jazz Festival–2013”
Tom Harrell: Trip
Not to discount the work of Tom Harrell’s frontline partners from his previous albums, but the tonal match and improvisational rapport between the trumpeter-flugelhornist and … Read More “Tom Harrell: Trip”
Frank Kimbrough: Quartet
Frank Kimbrough’s piano playing is unpredictable. Not in terms of quality-he’s always “on”-but in terms of content, direction and execution. He’s a genuinely spontaneous player. … Read More “Frank Kimbrough: Quartet”
Saxophone Summit: Visitation
Here’s what this album suggests at various times: the soundtrack to a dark, slow-moving suspense film; an orchestra tuning up; six musicians practicing simultaneously in … Read More “Saxophone Summit: Visitation”
Saxophone Summit: Visitation
Here’s what this album suggests at various times: the soundtrack to a dark, slow-moving suspense film; an orchestra tuning up; six musicians practicing simultaneously in … Read More “Saxophone Summit: Visitation”
Mike LeDonne: I Love Music
Mike LeDonne’s Groover Quartet has a talent for finding the jazz groove in pop tunes as well as for striking up a righteous groove on … Read More “Mike LeDonne: I Love Music”
Stan Kenton Alumni Band: Road Scholars Live
With trumpeter Mike Vax at the helm, the Stan Kenton Alumni Band is in good hands. The group’s 2013 tour, memorialized here, would not disappoint … Read More “Stan Kenton Alumni Band: Road Scholars Live”
Ralph Bowen: Standard Deviation
With Standard Deviation, tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen, pianist Bill O’Connell, bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Donald Edwards deliver a program of standard tunes revised in … Read More “Ralph Bowen: Standard Deviation”
Mike Longo and the New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble: Live From New York!
This album captures an electrifying evening at the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium in the NYC Baha’i Center. There is a feeling of elation in the … Read More “Mike Longo and the New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble: Live From New York!”
Ray Mantilla: The Connection
Jazz and Afro-Caribbean rhythms are a natural connection, one attractively celebrated in the work of Latin percussionist Ray Mantilla, who was born in the South … Read More “Ray Mantilla: The Connection”
Art Hodes: I Remember Bessie
“She just reaches out and grabs and holds me. … This gal sings from the heart. She never lets me get away from her once.” … Read More “Art Hodes: I Remember Bessie”
Stan Getz Quartet: Live at Montreux 1972
Recorded in 1972 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, this sold-separately CD and DVD release captures Getz in aggressive form as he digs into newer repertoire … Read More “Stan Getz Quartet: Live at Montreux 1972”
Houston Person: Nice ‘N’ Easy
Houston Person has called his style “good old bootin’ tenor sax playing.” With parts of this album, he might also refer to boudoir footwear, especially … Read More “Houston Person: Nice ‘N’ Easy”
Joey DeFrancesco: One for Rudy
“Rudy” is, of course, legendary recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, for whom Joey DeFrancesco feels a certain affinity. The organist recorded his second album at … Read More “Joey DeFrancesco: One for Rudy”
Eli Yamin/Evan Christopher: Louie’s Dream: For Our Jazz Heroes
The heroes pianist Eli Yamin and clarinetist Evan Christopher honor on this album include not only Louis Armstrong but also Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington, Sidney … Read More “Eli Yamin/Evan Christopher: Louie’s Dream: For Our Jazz Heroes”
Scott Hamilton: Remembering Billie
Here we have a typically swinging set by tenorman Scott Hamilton, the majority of which features songs recorded by singer Billie Holiday before World War … Read More “Scott Hamilton: Remembering Billie”
Frank Wess: Magic 101
Former Count Basie Band saxophonist Frank Wess, 89 at the time of this 2011 recording, is in classic form throughout. Accompanied by pianist Kenny Barron, … Read More “Frank Wess: Magic 101”
The Bechet Legacy: Birch Hall Concerts Live
Soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Bob Wilber formed the Bechet Legacy in the late ’70s. He had studied with Sidney Bechet as a teenager in the … Read More “The Bechet Legacy: Birch Hall Concerts Live”
Eric Alexander: Touching
Eric Alexander, on the scene since the early 1990s, is from the masculine school of tenor saxophone rhapsody. Throughout Touching, an album of ballads, he … Read More “Eric Alexander: Touching”
Bill Evans: Momentum
This two-CD set is a considerable emotional distance from the definitive and introspective Bill Evans Trio heard on the revered Sunday at the Village Vanguard … Read More “Bill Evans: Momentum”