Jazz Articles

Raul Midon: If You Really Want

by Chris Mosey
September 12, 2018

Raul Midon plays guitar and sings like Paul Simon. Born blind in New Mexico in 1966, The New York Times once called him “a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus." He was going somewhere once upon a time. Now he's back, still going somewhere. One of his songs is called “Everyone Deserves A Second Chance." Midon probably does. He sings well, he plays well and he writes good ...

Macy Gray: Ruby

by Chris Mosey
September 10, 2018

Despite selling 25 million records worldwide, Macy Gray classes herself an outsider. Asked about growing up in Canton, Ohio, she says: “I'm too tall, with a little head and big feet and this funny little voice. I didn't fit in and I still don't." Though, now in her forties, she seems to have reached an accommodation with life, love and show business. Of Ruby, her latest album, she says simply: “I hope it makes people happy."

Rick Braun: can you feel it

by Walter Atkins
April 6, 2015

Celebrated trumpeter Rick Braun's release can you feel it is aptly titled. The veteran purveyor of the smooth jazz sound does not disappoint on his latest offering. Some of Braun's musical friends on this eleven song collection include: Brian Culbertson-piano, Euge Goove-tenor sax, Jeff Lorber-keyboards and guitar, Dave Koz-tenor sax, and Nate Phillips-bass. In typical Braun fashion, the entire record production is clean and at a high standard. The title and first track “Feel It" has ...

Brian Bromberg: Downright Upright

by Jim Santella
February 21, 2007

Retro-inspired grooves can mean a lot of things--it depends on how far back one wants to go.

On Downright Upright, bassist Brian Bromberg takes a retro tour of the era when Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock were reaching a peak. Joe Zawinul and Eddie Harris were changing the scope of jazz. Weather Report was in, and jazz was changing rapidly. The umbrella was opening up to include innovative ideas and comfortable melodies that lingered in the mind for ...

Brian Bromberg: Wood II

by Ernest Barteldes
December 9, 2006

On Wood II, bassist Brian Bromberg, instead of showcasing new material, prefers to give his take on songs by a different range of composers, some of whom, like Paul McCartney and Kansas, are not directly associated with jazz. He opens with a classic Duke Ellington number, “Caravan, showing incredible speed during certain moments and also giving a lot of space to pianist Randy Waldman to show his chops. Another impressive track is Kenny Dorham's “Blue Bossa, which ...

Alan Broadbent: Every Time I Think of You

by Mark F. Turner
October 18, 2006

The frequent marriage of jazz music with strings has produced matches made in heaven on landmark recordings such as the Charlie Parker's classic With Strings (Verve, 1995/1949-1952) and Greg Osby's recent progressive Symbols of Light (A Solution) (Blue Note, 2002). With any union there's always the potential for things to turn sour, but in the case of Every Time I Think of You, the results are pure bliss. Born in New Zealand and currently living Los Angeles, ...

Alan Broadbent: Every Time I Think of You

by Jim Santella
October 11, 2006

Working with the Tokyo Strings, pianist Alan Broadbent interprets a program of familiar songs and original works on Every Time I Think of You. Bassist Brian Bromberg and drummer Kendall Kay, longtime associates of the pianist, lend a heartfelt quality to this relaxed affair as the music drives on slowly and meaningfully. Broadbent chooses a somber mood for the album, which adopts romanticism as its theme.

Broadbent's “Nirvana Blues stands out for the touch of drama that the ...

Alan Broadbent: 'Round Midnight

by Ken Dryden
August 25, 2006

Alan Broadbent is well known for his work as an arranger and accompanist, though the pianist's recordings as a leader best showcase his immense talent. He now lives in Southern California and plays on occasion in Los Angeles. Broadbent's first studio date for Artistry Music, with strong support from bassist Brian Bromberg and drummer Joe LaBarbera, has earned him a Grammy nomination (this same trio will soon release another disc, with strings, on the same label). The ...

Brian Bromberg: Wood II

by Franz A. Matzner
April 3, 2006

Brian Bromberg's extraordinary new release is a jazz album cured of the blues. Devoid of deep suffering pools, spare introspective valleys or convoluted mazes of cerebration, the mostly trio Wood II looks out over a vista of pure musical enjoyment seen from peaks of virtuosic playfulness. Listening to Bromberg take apart and reconstruct such staples as “Caravan, “Blue Bossa and “Bolivia is like watching a child diving into a birthday cake. He consumes these tunes with wild ...

Brian Bromberg: Wood II

by Robert R. Calder
March 25, 2006

On whatever Brian Bromberg has done, he's proven himself a very gutsy bassist, not just a virtuoso who's too notable for mere technique. The opening “Caravan" on Wood II does indeed begin with the sort of neo-boogaloo that young guys used to get New Orleans brass bands going again a couple of decades back. The weight of the snare drum's just right to keep the swing going, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta has another good workout in the run into track ...