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Christian McBride, Edgar Meyer: But Who's Gonna Play The Melody?
by Mike Jurkovic
It is not known exactly how many duets of this nature have fallen into the lackluster bin of audio history. But rest assured that But Who's Gonna Play The Melody? is as far from that incalculable number as the moon is from the sun. Emblematic of Christian McBride's whole groove credo, everything falls into place quickly, smoothly, and easily on But Who's Gonna Play The Melody?. On the bassist's gazillionth high spirited musical offering, McBride soul-teams with finger-snapping, ...
read moreOscar Peterson: Con Alma
by Chris May
To borrow Duke Ellington's description of Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson was born poor, died rich and never hurt anyone along the way. He also brought joy to untold numbers of people. But, truth to tell, his style was the twentieth-century equivalent of modern day AI-produced generative music. Sit Peterson down at a piano, progamme him (as in give him a tune to play), and press Go: a torrent of technique poured out. Trouble is, Peterson's pianism was ...
read moreChristian Sands: Christmas Stories
by Dave Linn
Early on, Christian Sands had a passion for music. He was enrolled in music classes at age four and wrote his first composition at age five. He started playing professionally at the age of ten and studied at the Center for the Arts in New Haven, Connecticut before receiving his Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. A protégé of Dr. Billy Taylor, Sands released his debut album at the age of 12 and came ...
read moreThe Oscar Peterson Trio: Con Alma: The Oscar Peterson Trio Live in Lugano, 1964
by Mike Jurkovic
Was there ever a more generous player than Oscar Peterson? A man who, by simply doing the thing he most loved and thrilled to do, which was make people feel better way down deep in their bones, sat at his piano and made the world grateful? Rekindled that spark--of imagination, of potential, of better--just by running his hands along the eighty-eights and instigating his soul mates, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen to do the same. That ...
read moreJoey Alexander: Continuance
by Neil Duggan
At some point, even a child prodigy grows up. Now 20 years old, Balinese pianist, Joey Alexander has come long way from the six- year-old exposed to Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, the eight-year-old playing in front of Herbie Hancock and the ten-year-old winning improvisation competitions. It may be hard to believe but Continuance is his seventh release. Given his age, ability and meteoric rise, expectations are always high, perhaps unfairly so. In his expected progress ...
read moreVeronica Swift: Veronica Swift
by Mike Jurkovic
Leave it to the irascibly spirited and octane-charged Veronica Swift to release the party record of the year! From the pure joy scatting of the blast-off opener “I Am What I Am" (from Broadway's grand musical La Cage aux Folles) to the rabble rousing, mad-cap Joan Jett jam with The Ramones finale “Don't Rain On My Parade" (only available on the CD and digital versions), the incredibly talented and free-swinging Swift swings for the fences and wins the home-run derby ...
read moreVeronica Swift: Veronica Swift
by Katchie Cartwright
Veronica Swift is a masterful jazz singer. Her craft is immaculate. She scats like nobody's business and her texted improvisations are inventive. What's more, she always seems to sing straight from the heart. All that might be enough for some people, not Swift. She is an artistic adventurer who wonders aloud on social media: “What would it sound like if you put together Ella Fitzgerald and--I don't know--Jimi Hendrix?" An answer is the third track on her self-titled ...
read moreBilly Childs: The Winds of Change
by Neil Duggan
Billy Childs, one of the most critically acclaimed pianists in modern jazz, is in high demand as a modern classical composer. He has played and composed music ranging from orchestral to chamber works to contemporary small ensemble jazz. This has brought him five Grammy awards to date. Starting as a pianist in his native Los Angeles, he then spent six years with Freddie Hubbard's band before becoming a leader in his own right. He has performed with a ...
read moreThe Yellowjackets: Parallel Motion
by Peter Jones
Of the original 1977 members of the Yellowjackets, all but keyboards man Russell Ferrante departed long ago. But saxophonist Bob Mintzer, who joined in 1991, is still there and, to a large extent, the idea also lingers on: we hear echoes of it in the work of Snarky Puppy, for example. That idea was/is Californian jazz-funk. But how do you keep it sounding fresh after 45 years and 26 albums (27 if you count the one with Bobby ...
read moreEmmet Cohen: Uptown In Orbit
by Mike Jurkovic
Pianist/composer/educator/impresario Emmet Cohen has proven himself time and time again to be one of the guiding lights of 21st century jazz. And he may have/could have single-handedly saved our collective sanity and jazz's continued rise and relevance when, in the face of a world plague, he began streaming Live From Emmet's Place from his apartment in Harlem. First it was Cohen and his trusty trio mates, bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle Poole. Then the sessions expanded to include such ...
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