Jazz Articles

Douyé: The Golden Sèkèrè

by Jim Worsley
August 11, 2023

Nigerian-born singer Douye has integrated the essence of Western jazz with the polyrhythmic sounds of African percussion. In doing so, she has spun the incomparable musical and lyrical genius of The Great American Songbook off its axis. These precious standards have been rearranged and reimagined hundreds if not thousands of times over the years. Douye was focused on presenting them in a fresh and impressionable manner. The concept of adding the wealth of African percussion to the glorious sounds of ...

Douyé: The Golden Sèkèrè

by Dave Linn
July 25, 2023

Nigerian-born Douye grew up in Lagos as part of a music-loving family. She joined the church choir where her grandmother was musical director and quickly became aware of her love and affinity for singing. It was her father though who passed on his love of jazz to her. He traveled often and brought home the latest records and news of the jazz world. This included all sorts of music like African jazz and Brazilian bossa nova. For many years she ...

Mike Bardash Quintet: Polygon

by Jack Bowers
February 22, 2014

Mike Bardash, who has been playing piano since age five and performing in and around the New York City area for more than a quarter-century, gets right down to “Brass Tacks" on Polygon, which, as far as can be determined, is the first full-length album he has recorded as leader of a group, in this case the Mike Bardash Quintet. The bracing studio date, for which Bardash composed ten of the eleven selections, touches a lot of bases, from bop ...

The Greg Abate Quartet Featuring Phil Woods: The Greg Abate Quintet Featuring Phil Woods

by Edward Blanco
November 29, 2012

Led by reed man, educator and Conn-Selmer clinician Greg Abate, The Greg Abate Quintet Featuring Phil Woods documents an electrifying set of bebop, straight-ahead and Latin styles featuring legendary alto saxophonist Phil Woods as its marquee player. The quintet burns through an exciting ten-piece repertoire of Abate originals complimented by contributions from both Woods and pianist John Patrick. Abate, like Woods, is known for his mastery of the alto, but on this date his superb talents on the baritone, soprano ...

Tom Culver: Tom Culver Sings Johnny Mercer: I Remember You

by C. Michael Bailey
November 15, 2010

Johnny Mercer was a class act as a lyricist. He, alone, could well populate the jazz songbook of standards. Singer Tom Culver pays special tribute to Mercer with I Remember You, a sporting collection of Mercer's finest that include “Day In, Day Out," “Skylark," “Moon River," and the title cut. Culver is a vocalist cut from the same bolt as Roger Cairns, both men possessing distinct and joyful voices and an expert knack for the American Songbook. Both also sport ...

Dolores Scozzesi: A Special Taste

by Edward Blanco
September 26, 2010

Whenever the names of legendary vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Edith Piaf are used to describe a new singer, it's clear that there's something special about that artist. Dolores Scozzesi is one such artist, and her unique Mezzosoprano voice separates her from the plethora of female jazz vocalist dotting the landscape these days. After a brief hiatus to raise a family, and years of performing in clubs from Los Angeles to Paris, Scozzesi--who revived her passion ...

Dolores Scozzesi: A Special Taste

by C. Michael Bailey
September 1, 2010

Los Angeles-based vocalist Dolores Scozzesi concludes A Special Taste with the time-honored Kosma/Mercer standard, “Autumn Leaves." Her approach is one of simplicity and elegance, opening the piece with Jacques Prevert's French lyrics, an alto Edith Piaf crossed with Roberta Gambarini and accented with Daniela Schachter. Scozzesi is accompanied to great effect by guitarist Grant Geissman, who arranged the piece as a light samba decorated with his intricate Latin latticework. In such close confines, a potent musicality is ...

Melody Breyer-Grell: Fascinatin' Rhythms: Singing Gershwin

by Michael P. Gladstone
April 6, 2008

Coming on the heels of her well-received debut album, The Right Time (Rhombus, 2004), jazz singer Melody Breyer-Grell's Fascinatin' Rhythms: Singing Gershwin is an appreciation of the Gershwin songbook. This is, by itself, a daunting task, since there are many preceding greats who have interpreted these songs many times over. Tackling tunes like “Embraceable You," “Someone to Watch Over Me" and “Nice Work If You Can Get It," the obvious comparison is with the Ella Fitzgerald-Billie Holiday-Sarah Vaughan A-List. Here, ...

Melody Breyer-Grell: Fascinatin' Rhythms: Singing Gershwin

by Marcia Hillman
March 14, 2008

Melody Breyer-Grell and the Gershwin songbook make a good combo on this, her second release, ably abetted by Don Braden (sax), Jim Rotondi (trumpet), Gloria Cooper (piano), Dean Johnson (bass), Matt Wilson (drums), John Hart (guitar) and Kahil Kwame Bell (percussion). The vocalist's classical and musical theater training blends well with the richness of George's harmonies and Ira's intelligent lyrics. Breyer-Grell has chosen a large chunk of the Gershwin collection to explore--some which many have done but ...

Melody Breyer-Grell: Fascinatin' Rhythms: Singing Gershwin

by C. Michael Bailey
February 12, 2008

2008 is shaping up to be a stellar year of stripped-down jazz vocal recitals. Witness Long Beach native Melody Breyer-Grell's collection of Gershwin standards, Fascinatin' Rhythms; Breyer-Grell is supported by the basic jazz piano trio, with the intelligently applied supplementation of solo instruments. Breyer-Grell's voice is front and center in this recording, never obscured by the instrumentation. The singer's approach to this canonical material is reverent, but not so as to make it boring.

“Somebody Loves Me and ...