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Jazz Articles about Bob Sheppard
Judy Wexler: No Wonder
by Dan Bilawsky
Judy Wexler imbues every song she touches with a sense of realism, wonder and depth that's ever so rare. An inimitable artist, this celebrated singer adds volumes to each story she encounters, be it a post-millennial jazz tune, '60s counterculture anthem, glimmering Brazilian jewel or any number of other finds. In the case of No Wonder--Wexler's seventh album, arriving two decades after her debut--she demonstrates her gifts with a marked emphasis on standards. Longtime collaborator/pianist Jeff Colella's ...
Continue ReadingPeter Erskine & The JAM Music Lab All-Stars: Vienna to Hollywood
by Peter Erskine
Hollywood called... ...and Max Steiner was the first of this dynamic duo to answer, arriving there in 1929, initially working for the RKO Studios as an orchestrator and then as a composer. This was not his first affiliation with Hollywood, however; he functioned as Fox Studio's musical director, adding live music to silent films presented in New York theaters where he had already established himself on Broadway. The call to come west must have triggered an urge as primal as ...
Continue ReadingBevan Manson featuring Tierney Sutton with The Hollywood Studio Orchestra: Talking to Trees
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Bevan Manson is an artist who has a creative duality. As a pianist, composer/arranger and educator, he's been successful in classical and jazz environments. With Talking to Trees, Manson provides an array of both originals and jazz standards, most with an arboreal tint, as the title indicates. The work is a validation that his pen, guiding the talents of vocalist Tierney Sutton and L.A.'s premium players, can make the familiar fascinating and the novel intriguing. Miles Davis' ...
Continue ReadingVeronica Thomas: Veronica Thomas They Say It's Wonderful
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Broadway musicals and cinema soundtrack songs have been full-bloom gardens for material harvested by singers and instrumentalists. From the romantic to the dramatic to the humorous and novelty, artists have had the buona fortuna of such a vast treasury. Partnering with the insight of producer John Proulx, (himself a marvelous singer/pianist/composer) and a cadre of LA greats, highly entertaining vocalist Veronica Thomas superbly delivers a dozen Broadway and film standards--and a standout Proulx original--with They Say It's Wonderful.
Continue ReadingJudy Whitmore: Come Fly with Me
by Jack Bowers
When the multi-talented Judy Whitmore sings “Come Fly with Me," it is an invitation that is almost impossible to resist, especially as the lovely and charming vocalist is also a pilot who is licensed to fly anything from jets to seaplanes to hot air balloons. On her latest album, backed by a big band and twenty-six member string section with arrangements by Hollywood top gun Chris Walden, Whitmore beckons listeners to fly with her to romantic places around the world ...
Continue ReadingAdam Schroeder & Mark Masters celebrate Clark Terry: CT!
by Pierre Giroux
In jazz, where the past intertwines with the present and the future, few figures were as influential as the legendary trumpeter Clark Terry. During his playing career, he developed a creative, bouncy style with an irrepressible rhythmic verve that was entirely his own. The album CT! with baritone saxophonist Adam Schroeder and arranger Mark Masters serves as a heartfelt homage to this jazz icon, presenting fresh and invigorating arrangements of 13 Clark Terry originals skillfully performed by a 12-piece ensemble. ...
Continue ReadingDavid Whitman: Ode To Joe
by Jack Bowers
While West Coast drummer David Whitman's Ode to Joe [Henderson] is a rather brief one at less than thirty-three minutes, it is otherwise admirable for what is enclosed within its concise parameters. Whitman leads a well-schooled septet whose makeup is freshened by rotating tenor saxophonists Bob Sheppard and Rob Lockart and guitarists Bruce Forman and Chris Montgomery. Whitman and trumpeter Andrew Neesley share composer credits, and Neesley handles the arrangements, awakening warm memories of the Golden Age ...
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