Posts in category Reviews

The commitment of the musicians to the project makes Seven Angels one of this pandemic year’s bright spots.

In this era of lightning-fast social changes, John Bailey’s Can You Imagine? album becomes more relevant every day. Can You Imagine? was released on January 20, 2020, a year in advance of the U.S. Inauguration Day, which will be the culmination of drama, mudslinging, social media falsehoods, nationwide protests, COVID-19 social distancing …

Music tells the stories of life. More eloquently than can words. For those who will listen. It’s not sufficient merely to hear. For in the stories contained within the notes and even within the rests between the notes played by an accomplished musician, music can capture injustice, joy, struggle, love, …

  Fortunately for his listeners, Chick Corea’s prodigious musical output pours not from a container that’s emptied and then refilled, but from a stream that ceaselessly flows. One can imagine his never being far away from his piano or keyboard at home. Corea seems so connected to music that no …

Within the first few seconds, I knew this song was going to be enjoyable to listen to with its chill vibes from the instrumentals. Furthermore, the vocal articulation is on point and blends seamlessly with the beat and song rhythm. I would also like to highlight how creative and artistic …

It’s not every day that a new recording label comes along. Online availability of new music has taken care of that. But now, at the start of a new year, a new recording label has gone back to the future by packaging previously unreleased live recordings from a more than …

It should come as no surprise that Lorraine Feather, a poet at heart, writes her song lyrics first. The musical notation comes later. Feather’s unique style of poetic imagery mixed with honest descriptions of personal relationships continues on her most recent album, the intriguingly titled Math Camp. Feather isn’t a …

Stefon Harris’ Blackout has proven to be an enduring concept, and Harris has grown to be an enduring presence in the international jazz scene. The title of Blackout’s first album, 2004’s Evolution, proved be prophetic, even if its original meaning intended a broader perspective. For Blackout has evolved through the …

Ben Wendel—saxophonist, bassoonist, composer, arranger, producer, educator, social media innovator, writer of movie scores, artistic council founder, member of numerous bands, musical group leader, musical visionary—has developed one of the year’s most fascinating jazz albums. The Seasons, three years in refinement, had been available in its original form on YouTube. …

It is indeed gratifying to hear generation after generation of musicians continuing the revitalization process that maintains an appropriate edge to jazz recordings and whose uniquely refined perspectives keep jazz relevant. For after all, jazz is a never-ending process of regeneration, constantly absorbing new ideas as it democratizes music in …

Eliane Elias is on a winning streak, and that’s saying something. She already established an individualistic voice on jazz piano for the past 37 years. In fact, having earned two GRAMMY awards in two of the last three years, Elias may be at a height of her career. Even so, …

Jamison Ross took all the right steps, although perhaps unwittingly, to broaden his public recognition and advance his music career. First, Jamison appeared in Bruce Broder’s 2007 movie, CHOPS, which included close-ups of Jamison as his Jacksonville, Florida high school jazz band prepared for the Essentially Ellington Festival in New …

Trumpeter Itamar Borochov is a force to be recon with. The Israeli-Born, New York City-based musical prodigy is flipping the script of what jazz is, and what it can be. His tone on the trumpet is sublime, his virtuosity is undeniably enchanting, and his melodies are timeless in their clarity. …

  SMOKIN IN SEATTLE—Wynton Kelly Trio and Wes Montgomery—Resonance Records ALTO MANHATTAN—Steve Slagle—Panorama DREAMS AND DAGGERS—Cecile McLorin Salvant—Mack Avenue FOR THE LOVE OF YOU—Jacques Lesure—WJ3 LIVE FROM STERN GROVE FESTIVAL—Pacific Mambo Orchestra—PMO SERENADE FOR HORACE—Louis Hayes—Blue Note IN THE MOMENT—Johnny O’Neal—Smoke Sessions LET’S GROOVE—Cory Weeds—Cellar Live LATIN JAZZ PROJECT VOL. …

Artists eventually do go home again, if not physically, at least in spirit, as they realize that their upbringings formed the bases of their artistries, even as their talents may have been transformed years later. Innumerable musicians and singers recall their early discoveries of music in the church, in hometowns …

Belgium based jazz musician Giuseppe Millaci (29 years old) presents an ambitious and polished debut with the release of his album ‘Songbook’. Giuseppe Millaci bass / Amaury Faye piano / Lionel Beuvens drums. From its opening number ‘Nostalgia Op.1’, a tantalising prologue, the act’s superior standard of composition, performance and production values is …