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Jim Snidero: For All We Know
by Dan McClenaghan
The cover photo on Jim Snidero's For All We Know features the saxophonist holding his horn out in front of his body as if he is offering it to us as a holy relic. Holy it is when he plays it; a relic it is not. The album is Snidero's first recorded offering in a trio setting--sax, bass and drums. No chording instrument. His partners in chordlessness, Peter Washington and Joe Farnsworth--bass and drums, respectively--are a perfect choice, ...
read moreRichard Baratta: Off The Charts
by Jack Bowers
Drummer Richard Baratta's third album, Off the Charts, is a play on words, as he and his bandmates have taken lesser- known themes from a number of jazz masters that flew under the radar--in other words, were “off the charts"--and given them a fresh coat of paint, so to speak, to help redeem them from what Baratta considers an undeserved obscurity. The composers in question are Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Farrell, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Charles ...
read moreRichard Baratta: Off The Charts
by Pierre Giroux
The premise for Richard Baratta's Off The Charts is to give new life to some of the lesser-known works by boldface composers such as Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson and Chick Corea, among others. Assisting in this voyage of rediscovery are several top-notch jazz luminaries such as tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, pianist David Kikoski, bassist John Patitucci and percussionist Paul Rossman. All of the arrangements are by Baratta, save one, and that is the opening Hutcherson number “Herzog," which ...
read moreRichard Baratta: Off The Charts
by Neil Duggan
After more than three decades as a Hollywood film producer, drummer Richard Baratta seemed ideally placed to bring together the worlds of film and jazz, releasing two albums focusing on songs from the movies. The first of these, Music In Film: The Reel Deal (Savant Records, 2020) gained a Grammy nomination for pianist Bill O'Connell's arrangement of the Euphemia Allen composition, “Chopsticks." Baratta followed this up with Music in Film: The Sequel. His third album, Off The Charts, changes focus ...
read moreBill O'Connell: Live In Montauk
by Richard J Salvucci
A rhythm section which includes Santi Debriano and Billy Hart is nothing if not part of a potential dream band. In Craig Handy, one finds a post-bop saxophonist who played with virtually everyone worth hearing over the last third of the twentieth century. For a variety of reasons pianist Bill O'Connell may be a little less well known outside the jny:New York City metropolitan area, but his signal contributions to Latin jazz with Dave Valentin, Jerry Gonzalez and Mongo Santamaria ...
read moreBill O'Connell: Live In Montauk
by Jack Bowers
After years of gigging in the New York City area, while honing his credentials as a first-call contemporary jazz pianist, Bill O'Connell and his family moved to Montauk, the easternmost point on Long Island, where he expressed his appreciation of the area's many wonders by recording this impressive album at the celebrated Gosman's Dock, during the annual Hamptons Jazz Festival in August 2021. It is essentially a quartet date with trumpeter Randy Brecker sitting in on two numbers, ...
read moreLafayette Harris Jr.: Swingin' Up in Harlem
by Jack Bowers
It would cost top dollar to see and hear jazz musicians as busy and talented as pianist Lafayette Harris Jr., bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash up-close and personal. On Harris' new album, Swingin' Up in Harlem, the trio cannot be seen but can definitely be heard and appreciated, which is the next best thing. The session was recorded in February 2022 at the celebrated Rudy van Gelder studio in New Jersey, which is all that ...
read moreJoe Chambers: Moving Pictures Orchestra: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
by John Kelman
It's one thing to have an established `place in the jazz pantheon, another to continue redefining that position, long after others might be content to rest on their laurels. Joe Chambers' work behind the drum kit with artists including Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Mingus, and McCoy Tyner has already ensured a prominent place in jazz history. His output as a leader may be small, but he's delivered two outstanding Savant recordings in 2006's The Outlaw ...
read moreJim Snidero: Far Far Away
by Jack Bowers
There are many reasons for recording a jazz album, from “let's get together and create something fresh and exciting" to “well, it's about time we recorded another album." With all due respect, alto saxophonist Jim Snidero's latest recording, Far Far Away, seems to lean more toward the latter. That is not to suggest that it is less than respectable, as nothing Snidero does dips below that benchmark. On the other hand, at times it does seem as ...
read moreJim Snidero: Far Far Away
by Dan Bilawsky
Far Far Away brings us ever so close to the genius of Jim Snidero. An incandescent affair built upon the pillars of new partnership and continuing collaboration, it showcases a marked consistency in craftsmanship and inventiveness that leaves no doubt as to this artist's place in the jazz firmament. Of course, seasoned listeners need no reminders about his elevated status. The vaunted alto saxophonist has been delivering dynamic performances as a leader on record for the better part of four ...
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