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Jazz Articles about Gregoire Maret
La Tanya Hall: If Not Now, When...
by Pierre Giroux
With If Not Now, When... , La Tanya Hall emerges not just as a vocalist but as a storyteller, deeply connected to the quiet power of a well-chosen song. This is her most personal statement yet, an album crafted with intention rather than for show, where each track earns its place through lyrical depth and emotional impact. Hall avoids the obvious, assembling a selection of lesser-known material that invites the listener inward, asking for attention rather than applause. Supporting this ...
Continue ReadingLee Ritenour & Dave Grusin: Brasil
by Edward Blanco
Friends and musical partners since the '70s, guitarist Lee Ritenour and pianist Dave Grusin continue their collaboration on Brasil, thanks to Ritenour's Brazilian wife Carmen, who was influential in recommending the project, and to the many outstanding Brazilian players who grace the album. Though the repertoire contains two Ritenour originals and one from Grusin, the producers draw on such Brazilian composers as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Celso Fonseca and Ivan Lins for the majority of the songs, which were ...
Continue ReadingClarence Penn: Behind the Voice
by Dan Bilawsky
Drummer Clarence Penn, a serious force on the scene for more than three decades, has worked with a who's who of vocalists--Betty Carter, Kandace Springs, Luciana Souza, Kate McGarry, Nellie McKay, Claudia Acuña, Paula Cole, Melissa Walker and Nneena Freelon, to name just a few. He knows more than a thing or two about history and creativity behind the voice, and he's here to show it with this sharply-constructed date. Working with a stacked lineup of singers and instrumentalists, and ...
Continue ReadingLaila Biali: Your Requests
by Dan Bilawsky
While the jazz pipeline produces plenty of artists who pay no mind to an audience's interests, those types--figures with tunnel vision, in many if not most ways--rarely reach their full potential. Instead, it's the musicians who make it a point to communicate who tend to forge the strongest bonds with those on the receiving end. Laila Biali is one such figure. This JUNO-winning gem of a vocalist, pianist, arranger and songwriter always manages to connect. Biali has a keen awareness ...
Continue ReadingYotam Silberstein: Universos
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
Universos is a trio album featuring Yotam Silberstein on guitar, accordionist and pianist Vitor Goncalves, with drummer Daniel Dor, plus special guests. It is a balance of Silberstein co-ordinating joyful Latin wellbeing and moderated contentment, an acknowledgment of the wonderful and exalted beings and moments that make him, and us, grateful to be alive. Never boring, Universos is accessible, erudite and easy-going and a great album to support good vibes during festivities of all kinds. As mood makers go, Universos ...
Continue ReadingNicole Henry: Time To Love Again
by Richard J Salvucci
Nicole Henry has been making a lot of noise, nicely, with her latest album. It is easy to see why. While critics compare her to everyone from Natalie Cole to Whitney Houston, she really does sound like herself. She swings elegantly and does not oversing. Her intonation, diction and phrasing are impeccable. Henry is the epitome of good taste. She obviously has chops and range to burn, but keeps both under control. She will neither shatter ...
Continue ReadingMONK'estra: MONK'estra Plays John Beasley
by Jack Bowers
The MONK'estra is actually a number of groups of various shapes and sizes, from duo to big band, assembled under the guiding hand of composer, arranger & pianist John Beasley to—wait for it!—"play John Beasley," an artist whose admiration for Thelonious Sphere Monk is clear throughout this buoyant and resourceful album, as it was on Volumes 1 and 2 of the series, in which the MONK'estra “played Monk." Beasley wrote eight of the album's fourteen genial numbers ...
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