Jazz Articles about Andrea Balestra

About Andrea Balestra

Album Review

Bobby Hurricane Spencer: Hurricane Unleashed

Read "Hurricane Unleashed" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
April 27, 2021

What is unleashed here is a giant sized bowl of thick and rich blues, jazz, funk, and an R&B stew. A large ensemble serves it up hot, with Bobby Hurricane Spencer dishing out large portions of smokin' hot tenor saxophone licks, as well as vocals that range from tender to gritty. Whether Spencer is a saxophonist who also sings or a vocalist that can play is a tossup. He is equally at home. The two timer is also responsible for ...

SoCal Jazz

Andrea Balestra: A Rich Sicilian Odyssey

by Jim Worsley
February 17, 2021

Guitarist Andrea Balestra makes a cerebral investment with every note he plays and with all of his compositions. A lot of guitarists like to jam. Balestra isn't one of them. Substance is preferred over droning speed. His highly intensified music is born of traditional Italian music...being from Sicily perhaps a factor...a deep integration of blues, a passion for traditional jazz, a further passion for the music of Jimi Hendrix, and other components, that create his dichotomy. Balestra deftly exposes the ...

Album Review

Andrea Balestra: Trinity

by Jim Worsley
October 15, 2020

Coming in waves of different sizes, strengths, and motions, “Shape of the Oceans" pulsates with Andrea Balestra's guitar riffs buoyantly cast out to sea. The Balestra composition is anchored by drummer Phillip Major Willis, who surges through the tide. Changing course with “Reckless Abandonment," an upward boogie leads the rhythm section to lay it wide open for Balestra to ignite with full fury. The tune then slides into a graceful passage that brings the juggernaut to a stylish close. This ...