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Brian Landrus: Plays Ellington & Strayhorn
by Jack Bowers
When gathering material for a new recording, one time-honored rule of thumb is that it is hard to stray too far off course when revisiting the musical handiwork of renowned composer Duke Ellington and/or the Duke's virtuosic alter ego, Billy Strayhorn--even if one chooses to lead with an Ellington theme as relatively unknown as “Agra" from 1967's Far East Suite, which baritone saxophonist Brian Landrus does on Plays Ellington & Strayhorn, a graceful and stylish quartet date that also encompasses ...
Continue ReadingNoah Haidu: Standards II
by Pierre Giroux
On Standards II, pianist Noah Haidu embarks on a captivating journey through the jazz tradition, accompanied by bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart. The seven tracks were recorded at the Van Gelder studio. The album starts with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow." This track, famously sung by Judy Garland in the 1939 film “Wizard of Oz," became her signature song. The opening, delivered with finesse by Hart, sets the stage for Haidu to build the number from the ground up, ...
Continue ReadingBill O'Connell: Live In Montauk
by Richard J Salvucci
A rhythm section which includes Santi Debriano and Billy Hart is nothing if not part of a potential dream band. In Craig Handy, one finds a post-bop saxophonist who played with virtually everyone worth hearing over the last third of the twentieth century. For a variety of reasons pianist Bill O'Connell may be a little less well known outside the New York City metropolitan area, but his signal contributions to Latin jazz with Dave Valentin, Jerry Gonzalez and Mongo Santamaria ...
Continue ReadingBill O'Connell: Live In Montauk
by Jack Bowers
After years of gigging in the New York City area, while honing his credentials as a first-call contemporary jazz pianist, Bill O'Connell and his family moved to Montauk, the easternmost point on Long Island, where he expressed his appreciation of the area's many wonders by recording this impressive album at the celebrated Gosman's Dock, during the annual Hamptons Jazz Festival in August 2021. It is essentially a quartet date with trumpeter Randy Brecker sitting in on two numbers, ...
Continue ReadingJeremy Pelt: The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 2/His Muse
by Jack Bowers
Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt's album, The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 2, is a hybrid: nearly one-half jazz quartet (quintet on one track), more than the other half quartet with strings. Strangely enough, the strings are nowhere listed on the album jacket, nor are Pelt's colleagues in his quartet. One has to read an accompanying press release from HighNote Records to learn that they are pianist Victor Gould, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart (with guitarist Chico Pinheiro added on the ...
Continue ReadingBilly Hart / Ethan Iverson Quartet At Blue Note JAZZMI Festival in Milan
by Roberto Cifarelli
Angelica Sanchez: Sparkle Beings
by Richard J Salvucci
A famous philosopher once said “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." This is something of a problem for a reviewer. If the music is stunning—unexpectedly so—then the logical thing is to simply write that. But then it is possible to end up end up well out of one's depth. If the rhythm section is Billy Hart and Michael Formanek, well, things simply get better as you go on from there. Angélica Sánchez is a pianist ...
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