Jazz Articles about Billy Drummond

About Billy Drummond

Album Review

Billy Drummond and Freedom of Ideas: Valse Sinistre

Read "Valse Sinistre" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 2, 2022

As one of the world's foremost jazz drummers, Billy Drummond manages to keep busy--so much so that Valse Sinistre, recorded in November 2021, is his first album as leader in more than twenty-five years, following the critically acclaimed Dubai from 1996. This time around, Drummond is at the helm of his Freedom of Ideas quartet: Micah Thomas on piano; Dezron Douglas on bass; and Dayna Stephens on saxophones. Even though he is the nominal leader, Drummond doesn't ...

Album Review

Vicki Burns: Lotus Blossom Days

Read "Lotus Blossom Days" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
July 16, 2022

Who knew “Del Sasser" had lyrics? Part of the joy of listening to new recordings is finding such things out. And Vicki Burns does a convincing job of it. In this intriguing compilation of standards--yes, musicians can record from the Great American Songbook (GAS) without disgracing themselves, no matter what anyone says--bop heads and originals, Vicki Burns acquits herself admirably. She is solid evidence that the singer makes the song, rather than the other way around. ...

Album Review

Vicki Burns: Lotus Blossom Days

Read "Lotus Blossom Days" reviewed by Jeff Winbush

by Jeff Winbush
July 10, 2022

Whatever else can be said about jazz, there is little disagreement that it is best experienced in a live setting. Listening to Vicki Burns' Lotus Blossom Days is as close to a front-row seat in a New York nightclub as many of us are likely to get in these times of high fuel costs and crowded airports. Burns is not attempting to blow the roof off with vocal gyrations and tricks. She never oversings as she tries to ...

Album Review

Adam Shulman: Just The Contrafacts

Read "Just The Contrafacts" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
July 1, 2022

For those who may be scratching their heads about the word contrafact, in the jazz medium it designates a musical composition in which a new melody is overlaid on a familiar harmonic structure. This form really became prominent in the bebop era, where the artists (who were generally short of financial resources) could create new compositions over which they could improvise and record without worrying about paying royalties for copyrighted materials. During the depths of the ...

Album Review

Shannon Gunn: On A Mountain

Read "On A Mountain" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
November 29, 2021

Leave it to Canadian record producer and tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds to discover a hidden gem of an album. Vocalist Shannon Gunn recorded On A Mountain in May 2001 but it languished unreleased until now. Backed by a stellar group of both Canadian and US musicians such as pianist Renee Rosnes, drummer Billy Drummond, bassist Neil Swainson, trumpeter Brad Turner, tenor saxophonist Pat Labarbera and percussionist Rick Lazar, it is an eclectic mix of Gunn originals, and other numbers that ...

Album Review

Shannon Gunn: On A Mountain

Read "On A Mountain" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
November 24, 2021

Across the years, vocalist Shannon Gunn's raison d'être was the stage. A mainstay of the Canadian jazz scene for several decades, both as an influential educator and performer, she staked her claim in front of countless audiences and acquired plenty of admirers in the process. But when this respected musician passed away in July of 2020, there was little left behind to document the kind of beauty she delivered on a regular basis. Gunn never released an album under her ...

Album Review

Jim Snidero: Strings

by Jack Bowers
November 14, 2021

Another saxophonist with strings. Ever since Charlie Parker first took the plunge in 1950, a goodly number of disciples has followed suit. Alto player Jim Snidero's deep dive, Strings, was actually recorded two decades ago, in 2001, and released to widespread acclaim on Milestone Records. The remastered edition, on Savant Records, is even better, thanks to enhanced sound and arco bass parts that breathe new life into Snidero's engaging compositions (he wrote and arranged every number save the lone standard, ...