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Bob Weir: Ace - 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2CD)
by Doug Collette
Befitting its heady milestone date, the title of Bob Weir's initial solo album, Ace, carries multiple meanings. First of all, it was the Grateful Dead guitarist, vocalist & songwriter's nickname at the time of its gestation and completion (his bawdy persona as such mirrored in the ultra-suave pose on the inside photo as well as the risque cover art). More importantly, the album's name is also a reflection of the gambling lore so prevalent in songs of the ...
read moreDaggerboard & The Skipper: Daggerboard And the Skipper
by Dan McClenaghan
For those who think they can tell an album's sound by its cover, think again in the case of Daggerboard and The Skipper. That cover art seems to have come from the walls of an inner sanctum of a Pre-Columbian pyramid. So what kind of music will that be? It is hard to find information on this release. Daggerboard seems to consist of the workings of percussionist/songwriter Gregory Howe and trumpeter/flugelhornist/songwriter Erik Jekabson, of Throttle Elevator Music fame, ...
read moreZeena Quinn: Going My Way
by Jack Bowers
With so many singers these days competing to tempt the ears of an ever-shrinking jazz audience, success often rests not only on the talents of the vocalist but on the songs he or she chooses to interpret. On Going My Way, San Francisco-based vocalist Zeena Quinn puts her best foot forward on the opening numbers, Lover" and So in Love" (it's hard to go astray with Rodgers and Hart or Cole Porter) but it takes her quite a while to ...
read moreMads Tolling and the Mads Men: Playing the 60s
by C. Michael Bailey
From the first arco tones, something sounds very familiar, yet hard to identify. The tone in question is big and full, dry, but not too much so. Were this tone a libation, it would be an Old Fashion. Sleek and commanding, yes, this makes me think of Svend Asmussen. This should be no surprise both wunderkind Mads Tolling and Asmussen are Danes with solid technical ability on the violin and a prodigious knowledge of the jazz songbook. Assmussen has just ...
read moreMads Tolling Quartet: Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty
by Glenn Astarita
Mads Tolling spent nine prominent years with the Turtle Island Quartet; here, with his quartet, the Grammy Award-winning violinist hails Jean Luc-Ponty at Yoshi's jazz venue in Oakland, CA. Tolling contributes two original compositions to complement six Ponty-penned works, amid other pieces culled from the legendary French violinist's expansive discography. It's a bit sleeker, when directly contrasting Ponty's epic jazz-fusion Enigmatic Ocean (Atlantic, 1977). But Tolling turns up the heat via his intensely soaring unison choruses with ...
read moreMads Tolling: The Playmaker
by Woodrow Wilkins
Former wide receiver Michael Irvin earned his nickname, The Playmaker," for his leadership and performance with the Dallas Cowboys. Violinist Mads Tolling honors several others whose play-making proficiency has helped their teams, whether in the athletic arena or on the stage. A two-time Grammy Award-winner, Tolling is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a member of the Turtle Island Quartet, but has also performed with Al Di Meola, Kenny Barron, Paquito D'Rivera and Leo Kottke. For The ...
read moreMads Tolling: The Playmaker
by John Kelman
He's been around for a few years as a member of the Turtle Island Quartet, but for some he's best known for his work on Stanley Clarke's welcome return to fusion, The Toys of Men (Heads Up, 2007). Either way, The Playmaker isn't the violinist's first release as a leader--that would be Speed of Light (Self Published, 2008)--but it's the first to expand his trio, featuring guitarist Mike Abraham and bassist George Ban- Weiss, to a more powerful quartet with ...
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