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Color Red Records: A Label, Sound, and Vision

Read "Color Red Records: A Label, Sound, and Vision" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


When Eddie Roberts, leader of The New Mastersounds, moved to Denver, Colorado, in 2015, he discovered a local music scene that contributed to his vision for a new type of music organization: a label that would be more than a label, producing and releasing music that would be more than (good) music--music that would establish a label-specific sound. Roberts took the long road to Color Red Music headquarters on Colorado Boulevard in Denver. Born in Wales, he left ...

17

Beyond Classical: Divine Hand Explores “Aria 51”

Read "Beyond Classical: Divine Hand Explores “Aria 51”" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


In the early 1920s, musician and physicist Lev Terman invented an electronic proximity alarm, which shrieked louder and higher noise when something (or someone) moved closer to its antenna, as a motion detector for the Russian penal system. A concert cellist and physicist, Terman (Leon Theremin) realized that intervals of that sliding sound theoretically corresponded to musical notes, and began fine-tuning his prison alarm into a musical instrument. A 1922 demonstration so impressed Vladimir Lenin that the Soviet ...

8

Freaks in Mayberry & the Boney Oscar Stomp

Read "Freaks in Mayberry & the Boney Oscar Stomp" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Giuseppe Paradiso & Meridian 71 Parallel Dimensions Ubuntu Music 2022 Parallel Dimensions steers the listener's imagination through a luxurious multicultural tapestry woven in music by drummer, vocalist, composer, arranger and producer Giuseppe Paradiso and his sextet. It explores broad musical horizons that can sound radiantly bright or dark, often features several instrumental or melodic voices at the same time, and is strongly colored and shaped by African rhythms. Parallel Dimensions ...

8

Demons and Wizards, June Bugs and Jakarta

Read "Demons and Wizards, June Bugs and Jakarta" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Hermeto Pascoal Planetario Da Gavea Far Out Recordings 2022 Planetario Da Gavea is an enormous, sprawling document from a February 1981 outdoor performance series by Brazilian jazz wizard Hermeto Pascoal recorded under the stars in the Gávea neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, within the dome of the city's outdoor planetário (planetarium). Ten pieces, most never recorded before and several never performed again, stretch across two hours of gloriously ...

16

Bird Songs, Tripping Fantásia, Real Harmony & Klezmer-Hop

Read "Bird Songs, Tripping Fantásia, Real Harmony & Klezmer-Hop" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Alex Bird & the Jazz Mavericks You Are the Light and the Way Self-Produced 2021 You Are the Light and the Way presents an interesting challenge for a writer. Twelve new songs by Canadian vocalist Alex Bird (lyrics and music) and keyboardist Ewan Farncombe (music and arrangements) consistently sound like new “songbook classics"--in several places, as if Harry Connick Jr. magically composed music with Johnny Mercer. Bird, Farncombe and the ...

17

Monsters from the Jazzlab

Read "Monsters from the Jazzlab" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Rodrigo Almonte Distancia Odradek Records 2021 “Every piece of music on Distancia is an honest representation of a pilgrimage of different distances that I had to walk, musically and geographically speaking, in order to find inspiration and to create a representation of myself as a musical nomad," explains guitarist Rodrigo Almonte, who was born and raised in Peru, completed Bachelor of Arts studies in Ireland and Brazil, and his Masters ...

10

Rediscovery and Re-Creation, and an NYC Farewell

Read "Rediscovery and Re-Creation, and an NYC Farewell" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Greg Abate Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron Whaling City Sound 2021 Musicians will sometimes honor another musician who influenced their lives or work with a tribute or memorial recording after that influential musician has passed on. There's an abundance of first-rate music on the double-disc Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron. But the best thing about is that the leader, flutist and saxophonist Greg Abate, convinced Kenny ...

22

Italian Spirits, Dubé Debuts and Chasing (Mahogany) Frogs

Read "Italian Spirits, Dubé Debuts and Chasing (Mahogany) Frogs" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Paul Colombo Group Rio Crystal Vectordisc Records 2020 Rio Crystal is the perfect title for this bright and clear, warm and sunny set led by guitarist Paul Colombo. Its frontline pairs Colombo's nimble guitar with keyboardist Ron Thomas, supported by bassist Andy Alonso and drummer Chris Loser, in a series of jazzy instrumental workouts. It's uncomplicated swing, and the emotional directness and honesty with which the principals play, turn Rio ...

10

Lost Within Jobim, the BOOM, and You

Read "Lost Within Jobim, the BOOM, and You" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Albare Plays Jobim Vol. 2 Alfi Records 2021 “I was 14 when I first heard the music of Tom Jobim," recalls Albare, nom de guerre of guitarist Albert Dadon. “I already had six years of guitar learning under my belt. When I first heard those bossa chords, my ears were opened in a whole new way. A musical seed was planted in my brain that would never leave me."

15

Tributes, Tapestries, Trombones and Tempests

Read "Tributes, Tapestries, Trombones and Tempests" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Vasko Atanasovski Adrabesa Quartet Phoenix MoonJune Records 2020 Phoenix captures the voice of one of Eastern Europe's most acclaimed and creative musical ensembles, the Adrabesa Quartet founded and led by Slovenian maestro Vasko Atanasovski, and amplifies this unique voice throughout MoonJune Records' global distribution network. Phoenix thus demonstrates that the globalization of jazz hasn't muted the strong, perhaps even essential, regional accents in its overall voice. Founded in ...


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