Jazz Articles
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Tom Wopat: The Still of the Night
by Dave Nathan
It's not reached stampede proportions, but there are a number of entertainment professionals crossing over into singing. Gary Le Mel, a top Warner Brothers movie executive came with his album Moonlighting last year. Now there's TV personality. Tom Wopat with his first vocal album The Still of the Night. Wopat is probably best known for his role on the Dukes of Hazzard. He also appeared as Cybill Shepherd's husband on Cybill and has been on Home Improvement. On the music ...
read moreTom Wopat: The Still Of The Night
by Jim Santella
Tom Wopat sings ballads with a coolness of spirit that matches his conservative stage presence. Best known for his television and Broadway acting roles, Wopat has recorded before; this is his fifth album. Show tunes, standards and country ballads represent a fine cross-section of American popular music. Wopat presents them well. As a classically trained singer, he possesses all the necessary skills. However, the actor's cool approach gets in the way when it comes to romance. Rather than convince a ...
read moreTin Hat Trio: Helium
by Jim Santella
The talented San Francisco bay area Tin Hat Trio folds a considerable segment of American ethnic music into their acoustic, chamber jazz setting. European history has provided the jazz world with a specific reference for harmony and instrumentation as well as a comprehensive library of folk and classical music. The trio’s original compositions draw upon these concepts to produce swingin’ scenes that tend to conjure up images of ancestral costumes and regional dances. Their “Width of the World," for example, ...
read moreTin Hat Trio: Helium
by AAJ Staff
The press release accompanying this CD states that the Tin Hat Trio is “America's premier chamber-jazz ensemble", and this after only making two records together. So, Tin Hat must be the best thing since cornflakes, right? Well, that depends on your point of view. The trio consists of accordionist and pianist Rob Burger, violinist Carla Kihlstedt, and guitarist Mark Orton. All are classically trained, and technically proficient, and all have experience playing a wide variety of styles, including folk, jazz, ...
read moreTin Hat Trio: Helium
by Glenn Astarita
Following up their critically acclaimed Memory Is An Elephant the “Tin Hat Trio” extend their unique blend of grassroots Americana and Chamberesque interaction with jazz-based rhythms and acute improvisational prowess on Helium. The musicians combine folksy themes with fervent jazz chords supplied by guitarist Mark Orton on the title track, “Helium” as applied rhythms coalesce with Rob Burger’s cheery lead accordion lines and Carla Kihlstedt’s sonorous phrasing performed on violin. Throughout, the musicians go genre hopping yet the overall sound ...
read moreJohn Gentry Tennyson: Europa
by AAJ Staff
When John Gentry Tennyson's new Cd Europa came across my desk for review, judging from the layout and the rundown of songs (all of which are in Italian)I thought that I just received the soundtrack record to The Godfather , or possibly cocktail music from the Olive Garden ? Fortunately, this CD is neither. As a matter of fact, this disc can be considered a jazz record, or at least a hybrid of sorts; for it does incorporate much of ...
read moreTin Hat Trio: Helium
by Glenn Astarita
Following up their critically acclaimed Memory Is An Elephant the “Tin Hat Trio” extend their unique blend of grassroots Americana and Chamberesque interaction with jazz-based rhythms and acute improvisational prowess on Helium. The musicians combine folksy themes with fervent jazz chords supplied by guitarist Mark Orton on the title track, “Helium” as applied rhythms coalesce with Rob Burger’s cheery lead accordion lines and violinist Carla Kihlstedt's sonorous phrasing. Throughout, the musicians go genre hopping yet the overall sound and presentation ...
read moreJohn Gentry Tennyson: Europa
by Jim Santella
Pianist John Gentry Tennyson’s use of impressionism blends a classical style with a cocktail lounge player’s sense of adventure. To prepare for this project, Tennyson lived in Monte Carlo for three months, absorbing the overlapping essence of French, Spanish and Italian cultures. Jazz, of course, is represented in the pianist’s swinging approach to these ethnic flavors and in his keen sense of spontaneity. A child piano prodigy who majored in jazz studies and performance at North Texas State, Tennyson paints ...
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