Jazz Articles

Doug Webb: Sets The Standard

by David A. Orthmann
March 14, 2016

Doug Webb's newly released Sets The Standard is a textbook case of individual resourcefulness and group consonance in the context of songs often associated with the jazz tradition. For the most part, Webb, who plays tenor, stritch, and soprano sax on the record, puts his assertive, hard blowing persona on hold in favor of a somewhat laid- back, nuanced approach to the heads and to improvisation. It doesn't feel like a compromise or a concession to marketplace realities as much ...

Stephanie Nakasian: Thrush Hour

by Michael P. Gladstone
December 3, 2007

Stephanie Nakasian, who has been recording since the 1980s, has released an ambitious tribute to those singers she calls the “Great Ladies of Jazz." On Thrush Hour, the vocalist tries to connect to each of twenty female vocalists, going back as far as Bessie Smith.

Arranged in more or less chronological fashion, the album is almost like a compilation of the years in which these singers made their respective marks upon the world of vocal jazz. ...

Stephanie Nakasian: Thrush Hour

by Suzanne Lorge
August 6, 2007

Stephanie Nakasian is a great gift to jazz buffs--and especially to those who love singers. Not just for her exuberant performances but for her ability to articulate in layman's terms what it is to be a jazz singer. Her latest recording on V.S.O.P. Records, Thrush Hour, combines masterful singing, top-notch musicianship, and an educator's expertise to deliver a comprehensive “study of the great ladies of jazz, as the subtitle reads.

On this release Nakasian approaches a generous number ...

Eric Felten: Meets the Dek-Tette

by Jim Santella
March 18, 2005

In a tribute to Mel Tormé and Marty Paich, veterans of the West Coast jazz scene gather with singer/trombonist Eric Felten to interpret enjoyable standards in their own sweet way. Felten's clear baritone voice gives the session a smooth texture that proves to be an appropriate homage to singer Tormé.

Patterned after Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool sessions, Marty Paich's Dek-tette had a full sound that made the small group sound like a full orchestra. The same ...