Jazz Articles
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Wycliffe Gordon: Holiday Fun!
by Jack Bowers
Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon takes listeners on a pleasurable trip to his childhood and invites them to summon their own precious memories of Holiday Fun! on this splendid new seasonal recording from Arbors Jazz. Gordon has enlisted an all-star ensemble of like-minded musicians and friends to heighten the fun, stepping merrily through a litany of holiday favorites from “Winter Wonderland" to “Frosty the Snowman," “Silent Night" to “Joy to the World," before closing with the venerable “Auld Lang ...
Continue ReadingJames Suggs: For All We Know
by Jack Bowers
Every bandleader who enters a recording studio presumably does so with a specific game plan either in hand or in mind. And as is true of any idea, some outcomes are better than others. James Suggs, a splendid trumpeter, has enlisted several able sidemen for support on his second album as leader, For All We Know. What he has not done--surely unwittingly--is develop a blueprint whose parts are better than average, and in some cases, it must be conceded, less ...
Continue ReadingPeter & Will Anderson: The Best of Berlin
by Jack Bowers
Brothers Peter and Will Anderson's latest album, The Best of Berlin, has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with memorable music. The Berlin referenced here has a forename, Irving, a Berlin who happens to be one of the foremost writers of popular songs in the 20th century. Using skillfulness and style, the Anderson brothers breathe new life into a baker's dozen of Berlin's radiant and indelible songs, renovating one superlative theme after another. Not ...
Continue ReadingAdrian Cunningham: It's About Time
by Jack Bowers
Australian-born, New York-based multi-instrumentalist (and vocalist) Adrian Cunningham brings impressive creds to his latest recording, It's About Time, raising the number of albums under his leadership well into double figures. And as if playing an array of instruments were not enough, Cunningham also writes, having composed nine of the album's songs and arranged all of them. The exceptions are George Gershwin's “Summertime" (from the folk opera Porgy and Bess) and the traditional “Battle Hymn of the Republic." ...
Continue ReadingKen Peplowski: Unheard Bird
by Jack Bowers
Even when the recording (in this case, two) is a classic--as, for example, Charlie Parker's memorable Bird with Strings (Mercury Records, 1950)--some songs that deserve better are necessarily left on the cutting-room floor. Some may see that as disappointing, while others--like reed specialist Ken Peplowski--embrace it as an opportunity. On Unheard Bird, Peplowski--with strings and a core quartet--presents a series of fourteen generally likable themes, most of which were destined for Parker's album but were somehow passed over, and three ...
Continue ReadingJon-Erik Kellso and the EarRegulars: Live at the Ear Inn
by Jack Bowers
As trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and his EarRegulars had been performing every Sunday night for more than sixteen years at New York City's historic Ear Inn, Kellso reasoned it was time that one of their concerts should be recorded to share more broadly the fun and enthusiasm that animates every session. Once the ties had been bound, parts of two concerts were recorded, on January 15 and 29, 2023. The music is a hybrid, with one foot planted ...
Continue ReadingDiego Figueiredo: Follow the Signs
by Edward Blanco
Grammy-nominated Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo is considered to be one of the finest acoustic guitarists in the world. A classically-trained musician influenced by Brazilian masters Joao Gilberto and Baden Powell, he has also integrated the styles of American guitarists George Benson, Pat Metheny and the great Joe Pass into his playing. Figueiredo has recorded almost thirty albums to date. Accompanying the guitarist here are fellow countrymen percussionist Marcilio Garcetti and bassist Eduardo Machado aided by a five-piece string ...
Continue ReadingDiego Figuieredo: Follow the Signs
by Jack Bowers
Latin allure, anyone? Follow the Signs is a wonderful salute by guitarist Diego Figueiredo to the sunny and rhythmic music of Brazil, comprising an album of themes much like those he came of age listening to in his hometown of Franca, about four hours north of Sao Paulo. To carry out his plan, Figueiredo amplifies his core trio (bassist Eduardo Machada, percussionist Marcilio Garcetti) with a string quintet on most numbers to help underscore his melodious frame of mind.
Continue ReadingProfessor Cunningham and His Old School: The Lockdown Blues
by Jack Bowers
Given the uncommon position in which the world found itself owing to the global coronavirus pandemic, it was only a matter of time before “socially distanced" albums such as this one, recorded by Australian-born “Professor" Adrian Cunningham's septet “in bedrooms around the world," in April 2020, were bound to emerge. More specifically, in bedrooms in NY state, Vitoria and Girona, Spain, which loosely qualifies as “around the world." The idea came to Cunningham during a socially-distanced stroll through New York's ...
Continue ReadingLa Lucha: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
by Dan Bilawsky
Pianist John C. O'Leary III, bassist Alejandro Arenas and drummer Mark Feinman, fast friends since they first met at the University of South Florida in 2006, draw on very different backgrounds and myriad sources when performing together as La Lucha. Whether digging into the Great American Songbook, exploring material from pop and classic rock radio, tapping into the Latin-jazz lexicon, or alluding to classical refinement, they manage to operate with a collective openness that's rare. The piano trio tradition tends ...
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