Jazz Articles
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Okonski: Entrance Music
by Ian Patterson
A signature sound--whether for an individual musician or a band--comes naturally to some but remains elusive to others. It is worth its weight in gold, making the jobs of publicists, club owners, festival organizers and journalists that much easier. Okonski, the trio of pianist Steve Okonski, bassist Michael Montgomery, and drummer Aaron Frazier, occupies a sound world that could be described as meditative jazz. The vibe is laid-back yet sunny, uncluttered yet gently grooving, accessible yet artful. That ...
Continue ReadingOkonski: Magnolia
by Chris May
Every so often an album emerges out of--well, not nowhere exactly, but in this case Loveland, Ohio, which could be considered, in the nicest possible way, to be getting pretty close--that is as delightful as it is unexpected. Magnolia is a pensive, late night, piano-trio musing on melancholy, loss and empty, moonlit city streets. It is Edward Hopper's Nighthawks without the party vibe. Not that it evokes, exactly, isolation or rejection; more a feeling of quiet introspection and reflection. Not ...
Continue ReadingDelvon Lamarr Organ Trio: I Told You So
by Mark Corroto
To quote The Stranger in the film The Big Lebowski (1998), “Sometimes there's a man. I won't say a hero, 'cause what's a hero? Sometimes there's a man, and I'm talkin' about the dude here, sometimes there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place." In the 21st century, you might nominate Delvon Lamarr as the dude, or his dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino... You get the drift. The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio is a ...
Continue ReadingSure Fire Soul Ensemble: Aragon/El Niño
by Joe Gatto
Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, from San Diego, is one of the most talented new bands on the West Coast. The group mixes funk, soul, jazz, Latin & African influences to create unique, exciting music. Their 2018 single on Colemine Records, “Aragon b/w El Niño" is a little black crack 45 inch slab of jazzy funk grooves. “Aragon" is high-energy jazz-funk with potent percussion underpinning happy horns that fly high. The rhythm section, guitar & keys move ...
Continue ReadingIkebe Shakedown: The Way Home
by Joe Gatto
Ever since I heard their debut in 2009, Ikebe Shakedown became one of my favorite bands. There's nothing I love more in music than funky grooves, powerful percussion and bold brass. Ikebe Shakedown does all-instrumental, percussive, brassy Funk as well as anyone else on the scene these days.Their 2017 record, The Way Home on Colemine Records, intrigues, stimulates, and blows the mind while shaking the hips.Over the past nine years, Ikebe Shakedown has cemented a reputation ...
Continue ReadingSure Fire Soul Ensemble: Out On The Coast
by Joe Gatto
Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, from San Diego, is one of the most talented new bands on the West Coast. Mixing funk, soul, jazz, and Latin & African influences to create unique, exciting music... their “cinematic soul" is like a cross between the music from Jim Jarmusch movies & Blacksploitation films of the 1970s. And, you can dance to it! If you like Snarky Puppy, The Beastie Boys' instrumentals, Quantic, The New Mastersounds, Karl Denson & Greyboy ...
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