Jazz Articles

Janis Siegel: The Tender Trap

by AAJ Staff
January 20, 2003

Not to be confused with lounge singer Janet Seidel, Janis Siegel has framed her volume of the Great American Songbook as an “unabridged" pulp novel. Unfortunately, some of it should have been abridged. The album opens with an over-faded version of “Old Black Magic," skims along the musical waves of “My Ship," gets caught in the title track and then tries a change with a frilly and trilly “Change Partners." However, it is not until the misogynistic blues of “I ...

The Crown Project: Modern Mancini

by Dave Hughes
July 1, 2001

Tribute albums are all the rage these days, so Monarch Records has release Modern Mancini – Tribute to a Music Master under the mysterious moniker “The Crown Project.” Henry Mancini was undoubtedly one of the foremost film and TV scorers, with nearly 80 film scores, four Oscars, and twenty Grammies to his credit, yet one doesn’t have to look too far into his compositions to see his jazz sensibilities at work. Had Mancini not focused so much of his time ...

Janis Siegel: The Tender Trap

by Jim Santella
February 1, 2000

The combination of Janis Siegel’s vocal creativity and Fred Hersch’s imaginative supporting arrangements makes this album take off. Recorded in an intimate trio setting with various guest artists, the album lets its stars shine brightly. A gifted pianist, who began playing at the age of four, Hersch has taught at the New England Conservatory of Music and is widely regarded as an exceptionally creative artist. Siegel first sang professionally at the age of 12 and played folk songs on guitar ...

Mimi Fox: Kicks

by C. Michael Bailey
November 1, 1999

Righteous Chops!. I can think of three major female guitarists: Leni Stern, Emily Remler, and Mimi Fox. Fox turns out to be the least know, making her a very well-kept secret. When I first listened to Kick, I heard a Joe Pass speed and precision with a Wes Montgomery round tone. Fox opens her disc with the venerable “Cherokee”, the song that began the Be Bop revolution with Charlie Parker. Ther is no slow burn here. She follows this war-horse ...

Mimi Fox: Kicks

by Douglas Payne
September 1, 1999

Unfortunately, Mimi Fox is one of only a few female guitarists in jazz. Only Leni Stern and the late, lamented Emily Remler seem to have broken through that male-dominated stranglehold. But Kicks, Fox's latest disc and her third as a leader, places the guitarist in star-studded company to firmly announce that, yes, she too can play - and hold her own -- with the big boys.Fox is an especially good player, giving Kicks an appeal that you'll want ...

Mimi Fox: Kicks

by Ed Kopp
May 1, 1999

Not many string-benders are as talented as Mimi Fox, a San Francisco-based musician with a strong sense of swing and a clean, economical style.A former student of Bruce Forman's, Fox shares more qualities with her bop-minded mentor than with the majority of male jazz guitarists in her age group who have adopted a more electronically processed, rock-influenced sound. Kicks is Fox's second release, and it features a strong supporting cast, including Russell Ferrante (keys) and Will ...

Dave Ellis: In The Long Run

by Jim Santella
December 1, 1998

The biography at http://www.monarchrecords.com/bio-ellis.html refers to saxophonist Dave Ellis as a “30-year-old rising-star saxophonist" who offers a variety of styles and preferences. The Monarch web site also includes samples from each of the tracks on In The Long Run. His early experience and few recordings only show the surface of what Ellis can do. His two Monarch recordings have proven that Dave Ellis is a “talent deserving wider recognition."

“The Waterbearer," written by Mingus Amungus pianist Muziki Roberson, is one ...

The Crown Project: Gershwin On Monarch

by Jim Santella
December 1, 1998

With a full orchestra backing smaller intimate jazz ensembles, various artists appearing under the umbrella title The Crown Project have gathered to pay tribute to George Gershwin’s music. Leading players are pianist Mark Gasbarro, flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny, saxophonists Doug Norwine & Justo Almario, and singers Sandi Patty & Tim Davis. Gasbarro performs “Nice Work if You Can Get It" with bass and drums in an atmosphere that seems to place the listener in a club at center stage absorbing every ...

Dave Ellis: In the Long Run

by Joel Roberts
December 1, 1998

Tenor saxophonist Dave Ellis's resume includes a number of diverse, high-profile jobs both inside and outside the jazz world: a tour with the post-Grateful Dead touring band, the Other Ones; a spot in Dead guitarist Bob Weir's Ratdog; and membership in the popular groove-jazz group, the Charlie Hunter Trio. But In the Long Run, his second album for San Francisco's Monarch label, is a straight-ahead jazz effort that shows his jazz sensibilities untainted by pop, rock, or hippie jam band ...

Dmitri Matheny: Statlight Cafe

by Jim Santella
November 1, 1998

Recorded live at La Note Café and Restaurant Provencal in Berkeley, California earlier this year, Dmitri Matheny’s third album offers ballad material suitable for framing and displaying in the living room where you’ll be able to revisit it every day when you come home from a hard day’s work. The trio’s members form a cohesive seamless unit made up of equal parts soulful expression, caressing phrases, imaginative asides, and dedicated lyricism. Matheny, who will turn 33 on Christmas Day, was ...