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Jazz Articles about Freddie Hendrix
Joe Elefante's Wheel of Dharma: Return of the Light
by Jack Bowers
The second act of Joe Elefante's laudable jazz career was born in tragedy: the loss in 2024 of his wife of sixteen years to cancer. It was then that Elefante, who once led the world-class Joe Elefante Big Band, decided to leave his long-time position as a schoolteacher and return to his first love, jazz, and devote the time he had left to writing and performing again with his talented colleagues and friends. Return of the Light ...
Continue ReadingGeorge Gee Swing Orchestra: Winter Wonderland
by Jack Bowers
After an absence of several years the New York City-based George Gee Swing Orchestra is back in a recording studio, doing what it does best--swinging merrily through a Winter Wonderland chock-full of holiday favorites that kids of all ages can relate to and appreciate. Gee formed his first band while still in college at Carnegie Mellon University, one day after interviewing Count Basie on the campus radio station. After moving back to New York City, where he ...
Continue ReadingThe Harry Allen Orchestra: With Roses
by Pierre Giroux
Harry Allen is a tenor saxophonist's tenor saxophonist with an elegant tone and swinging style in the manner of Scott Hamilton, Lester Young or Ben Webster. He has a well-rounded discography of over 70 releases as a leader and many others as a sideman. Over the course of his prolific career, Allen has appeared with the likes of Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, James Taylor and guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli and John Pizzarelli. In this release, With Roses, Allen applies his considerable ...
Continue ReadingNancy Kelly: Jazz Woman: The Reel to Real Sessions
by Hrayr Attarian
Among jazz aficionados in the “real" Upstate New York, that is to say in and around the cities of Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, vocalist Nancy Kelly is well known. She has performed at multiple venues, both still extant and defunct, which served as havens for music lovers in the area. Known for her uncompromising artistry and singular approach to standards, Kelly did not limit her activity to her native region. Over half a century she has performed all over the ...
Continue ReadingMichael Leonhart Orchestra: The Normyn Suites
by Angelo Leonardi
Gli eclettici sviluppi orchestrali di Michael Leonhart, tra maestosi affreschi evocativi e trascinanti momenti rock e soul, tornano a entusiasmarci con questo magistrale The Normyn Suites, dove la poetica della leggerezza convive con scelte di vivo impatto ritmico e timbrico. Le due forti propensioni musicale dell'autore sono ben bilanciate: quella impressionista (che ha caratterizzato opere ammalianti come Lovers di Nels Cline e il suo The Painted Lady Suite) e quella legata alla popular music, maturata nelle collaborazioni con Steely Dan, ...
Continue ReadingDoug Lawrence: Doug Lawrence & Friends
by Jack Bowers
If the name Doug Lawrence doesn't sound familiar, the name Count Basie surely should. What is the Lawrence- Basie connection? Well, for more than two decades Lawrence has been the featured tenor saxophone soloist with the renowned and still- active Count Basie Orchestra, a chair once impressively occupied by the likes of Lester Young, Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis, Lucky Thompson, Wardell Gray and Frank Foster, among others. When someone has been around as long as Lawrence, he or she makes a ...
Continue ReadingSusie Meissner: Tea for Two
by C. Michael Bailey
Natural but determined evolution makes for well conceived and produced projects. Vocalist Susie Meissner has proved this statement as she progressed from her debut recording I'll Remember April (Lydian Jazz, 2009), through her sophomore effort, I'm Confessin' (Lydian Jazz, 2011) to the present Tea for Two. Using a well-worn repertoire, Meissner, mostly with the support of pianist John Shaddy and his regular rhythm section (bassist Lee Smith and drummer Dan Monaghan), has steadily moved from solid, if not predictable, arrangements ...
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