Jazz Articles

Etta James: Blue Gardenia

by Dave Nathan
September 1, 2001

Etta James has been one of the foremost R & B and blues singer this country has produced. She has also demonstrated on many occasions that she can easily bring her hard charging style successfully to standards and traditional pop tunes, especially those to which she readily adapts her special singing style. Over the years, the voice has coarsened and the delivery mellowed a bit. But she can still hit you with that pain and anguish that have characterized her ...

Taj Mahal: Blue Light Boogie

by Ed Kopp
October 1, 1999

Blue Light Boogie combines songs Taj Mahal recorded for various multi-artist tribute albums along with some cuts lifted from the bluesman’s ‘90s releases on Private Music. The latter are hardly the best selections Taj recorded for his label, they do demonstrate the eclectic talents and considerable soul of one of America’s best blues talents. Blue Light leans a little too heavily on pop-oriented tracks from Mahal’s 1991 CD “Like Never Before." Fortunately, a great country-blues version of the Stones’ “Honky ...

Phil Perry: One Heart One Love

by Dave Hughes
October 1, 1999

Phil Perry has spent much of his career amassing a long list of credits as a background singer or a "sideman" vocalist (extensive work with Lee Ritenour, for example). He's released albums under his own name before, but hasn't quite made it into the "household name" category. His latest offering,One Heart One Love, should go a long way towards placing Perry where he belongs, in the same echelon with other romantic, soulful crooners such as Luther Vandross and ...

Toots Thielmans: Chez Toots

by John Sharpe
September 1, 1998

The harmonica is not a popular jazz instrument and since the mid-50's Toots Thielmans has been regarded as “a very big fish in a very small pond." Chez Toots stands as his tribute to the songs and sounds of the city of Paris. Toots invited some special guest vocalists to join the rhythm section of Bert van den Brink (piano), Hein Van de Geyn (bass) and Andre Ceccarelli (drums) and they all turn in pleasant, if not terribly exciting, performances. ...

Toots Thielemans: Chez Toots

by Jim Santella
July 1, 1998

The harmonica can send a lyrical message as well as any singer can, if it's played right. Toots Thielemans has been sending out the right message for over 40 years. But it's his earliest years, growing up in his native Belgium, that the harmonica master reflects upon by constructing this album of torch songs with French lyrics. The arrangements are rooted in straight-ahead jazz, but with a twist. Thielemans is supported by pianist Bert van den Brink, bassist Hein Van ...

Kenny Rankin: Here in My Heart

by Dave Hughes
December 1, 1997

It seems like every jazz artist (and even some pseudo-jazz artists) is destined to record at least one Brasilian music album during their career. Here's singer/songwriter Kenny Rankin's entry into this well-trodden field.

Everything about this disc looks like it should be great. There's a remarkable cast of players from both Americas. From Brasil, we have producer Oscar Castro-Neves, Luis Bonfa, Teo Lima, Gilson Peranzzetta, Ricardo Silveira, and many more. From the U.S., there's Don Grusin, Brian Bromberg, Michael Brecker, ...