Home » Jazz Articles » Bruce Barth
Jazz Articles about Bruce Barth
Susan Hinkson: Just in Time
by Katchie Cartwright
In 2025, radio programmers are apt to carp about singers who continue to cover the Great American Songbook. There are new songs and songwriters to explore, they say, and it is true. But for lovers of mainstream jazz, the mellow sound of a sensitive balladeer like Susan Hinkson singing a gem like Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's “One for My Baby" still satisfies. On a late and rainy Saturday night, many a jazz fan would be delighted to ...
Continue ReadingEric Jacobson: Heading Home
by Jack Bowers
There is a sensible piece of advice known to every baseball batter that has been taken to heart by Milwaukee-based trumpeter Eric Jacobson's concerning his hard-hitting quintet: come out swinging. Which is precisely what happens on Heading Home, Jacobson's second (or perhaps third) recording as leader of his own ensemble, whose opening number, “Survival," proves beyond a doubt that everyone in the lineup--all eyes focused on the ball--definitely means business. “Survival" sets the tone for the album ...
Continue ReadingEric Jacobson: Heading Home
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Wisconsin trumpeter, composer-arranger, educator and author Eric Jacobson and his team deliver Heading Home, his third album as leader. Offering eight Jacobson originals played by Chicago heavyweights and a New Yorker guest, all Jacobson regulars, the album, a hard bop retrospective, is arguably--if not definitively--the trumpeter's finest outing to date. “Survival" opens in a speedball frenzy with trumpet and tenor, the classic hard bop front line configuration, stating the melody before saxophonist Geof Bradfield blisters off, soloing ...
Continue ReadingEric Jacobson: Heading Home
by Paul Rauch
Trumpeter Eric Jacobson has settled in on the Chicago club scene, making musical alliances along the way that include the very top tier of that talent rich scene. For his latest venture into the studio, he employs the talents of master tenorist Geof Bradfield, Chicago first call bassist Dennis Carroll and the always swinging George Fludas on drums. At first glance, this session looks like a cannot miss proposition. After one listen, that supposition becomes objective fact, as the Milwaukee ...
Continue ReadingTerell Stafford: Between Two Worlds
by Neil Duggan
Family is a major theme on Terell Stafford's Between Two Worlds, with compositions dedicated to his daughter, mother and wife. His band has been playing with him so long they must feel like family too. They include tenor and soprano saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianist Bruce Barth, drummer Johnathan Blake and bassist David Wong. In fact, Wong plays with Stafford every week as part of the renowned Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Percussionist Alex Acuña is the new member of the family.
Continue ReadingHarry Belafonte, Elvin Jones, GoGo Penguin & Bruce Barth
by Joe Dimino
From the gifted world of veteran pianist Bruce Barth, we make our way into the 803rd Episode of Neon Jazz. We also hear from a crop of established cats with new music in Isaiah J. Thompson, GoGo Penguin, Gabriel Latchin and Marty Isenberg. We slip in classics from Stanley Turrentine, Dave Brubeck and the mighty Elvin Jones. Along the way, we say good-bye to the Father of Calypso in Harry Belafonte. Finally, we finish the hour up with the genre-mixing ...
Continue ReadingSteve Slagle: Into The Heart Of It
by Dan Bilawsky
In a storied career that's produced more than 20 leader dates, there's little that Steve Slagle hasn't explored and accomplished. Yet here we are with a true first from the veteran alto saxophonist: A stunning bouquet of ballads. Inspired by lodestar outings from legends like John Coltrane, and driven by a desire to find a personalized path through the format, Slagle essentially came to balance history with his own story. “I really ruminated over this," he explains, “and I find ...
Continue Reading
