Articles by Richard J Salvucci
Cal Tjader: Amazonas
by Richard J Salvucci
Multi-instrumentalist Cal Tjader has been gone for over forty years. Had he lived, he would be in his nineties today. The West Coast scene he entered, first as a drummer, then as a vibraphonist, was a world of clubs, acoustic bands, and enthusiastic promoters who pushed their favorite artists' careers. For Tjader, it was San Francisco, the Blackhawk, and jazz writer Ralph Gleason. Tjader broke in playing with Dave Brubeck in 1948. He was continuously employed until his premature death ...
Continue ReadingGunhild Carling: Jazz Is My Lifestyle
by Richard J Salvucci
Sometimes there is a tendency to take a performance less than seriously, especially if an artist uses a bit of self-satire as part of the act. Pianist Victor Borge had this problem--"comic virtuoso" he was called--and even trumpet player Jack Sheldon, to a degree, had to blow the roof off sometimes to remind the audience of what he could do. One senses that Gunhild Carling may get the less-than-serious treatment That is a pity, because she can play. And so ...
Continue ReadingJack Wood: Movie Magic. Great Songs from the Movies
by Richard J Salvucci
Someone could be forgiven for thinking that everyone loves music from the movies. After all: Jule Styne; Leslie Bricusse; Johnny Mandel; Sammy Fain; Harry Warren; Richard Rodgers ; Henry Mancini; Johnny Mercer; Antonio Carlos Jobim; Michel Legrand; Bernice Petkere; and Isham Jones is hardly a list of minor talents, but all are represented on Movie Magic. Is it the music itself, the associated film or both that are compelling? Perhaps an emotional connection to a moment, a time, a person ...
Continue ReadingMargaret Slovak: A Star's Light Does Fall
by Richard J Salvucci
This is a lovely recording of Christmas music that includes the proverbial “well loved" tunes plus even musings by Paul Stookey and Wayne Shorter. Honestly, the acoustic bass-guitar offerings are so mellow, tranquil and restful, that a listener does not have to wait for the holidays. Paco de Lucia or Andrés Segovia never made a Christmas album, so A Star's Lght Does Fall will have to do. And really, does anyone want to read a review of a ...
Continue ReadingKathy Sanborn: Romance Language
by Richard J Salvucci
Over 60 years ago, the original television series, The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling, CBS, 1959-64), had an unusually memorable episode. Called “Passage for a Trumpet," it featured Jack Klugman, alcoholic, down on his luck and suicidal. A trumpet player named Joey Crown uttered the memorable line, “This horn is half my language." OK. No spoiler. It is a spectacular performance, and now Kathy Sanborn has, in a way, produced an album based on it. The player for the episode was ...
Continue ReadingJoaquin Nuñez: Ruta De La Clave
by Richard J Salvucci
Ruta de la Clave is everything a good recording should be: listenable, stimulating, thoughtful, a bit eclectic and, above all, musical. Joaquín Núñez and Habana Safari has set out to do a version of the “history of the clave." Of course, this is a unique vision, a distillation of Núñez's experiences as a Cuban-Canadian percussionist. But his overall goal is considerably greater, “a reinvention of Afro-Cuban jazz." That is a pretty tall order. Others will say ...
Continue ReadingPaloma Dineli Chesky: Memory
by Richard J Salvucci
Sometimes a listener fixes on a particular version of a tune, especially on first hearing. The result can be good or simply limiting. Someone may never quite escape first exposure; it influences all subsequent experience. Some perhaps learned “Corcovado" when Miles Davis did it on Quiet Nights (Columbia, 1963). It may have been an odd choice for a first exposure to Davis, but it did happen in the early 1960s. Paloma Dineli Chesky sings “Corcovado" much ...
Continue ReadingJason Kao Hwang: Soliloquies, Unaccompanied Pizzicato Violin Improvisations
by Richard J Salvucci
Jason Kao Hwang is a child of Chinese immigrants, and previously recorded in Book of Stories (2023), Uncharted Faith (2022), and Human Rites Trio(2022), a CD completed during the Covid-19 pandemic. He places his music, on viola and violin, within the category of avant-garde-jazz-soul-folk. In the abstract, he calls his music “a celebration of life." Some might think his playing most akin to that of a mandolin, for that is the sound he conjures up. Fans ...
Continue ReadingVincenzo Virgilito: precondition
by Richard J Salvucci
Vincenzo Virgillito is a Sicilian bassist, trained in Italy, living in London. He has been exposed to a wide variety of influences including John Coltrane, Jaco Pastorius, and Pink Floyd. For the record, he trained as an accountant, so if he were required to find the mythical “day job," he would be in good shape. From the sound of this recording, there does not seem to be much prospect of that. He is a busy working musician.
Continue ReadingClaudia Vorbach: Rainbows Of Your Love
by Richard J Salvucci
For listeners of a certain age, this recording evokes memories of Melanie performing “Candles in the Rain." That was a long time ago--1970--and Melanie is no longer with us, but her influence is evident in Claudia Vorbach's stylings. There was a kind of cheerful irony in Melanie's work, a wink and a nod in “Brand New Key (The Roller Skate Song)" in 1971 that made people grin, especially if they were of a mind to try on roller skates.
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