Jazz Articles about James Moody

Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love

by Michael Caratti
September 5, 2007

This debut outing from Roberta Gambarini sees the Italian-born jazz vocalist pair up with two star-studded rhythm sections and legendary tenor saxophonist James Moody, to present what has to be one of the best vocal jazz albums of the decade.

Opening with Cole Porter's classic title track Gambarini's exquisite tone and masterful rhythmic phrasing are immediately on display in the first a capella section. The gradual addition of bass and brushes does little to prepare you for what happens next, ...

Bebop Lives! Jazz at Lincoln Center

by Nick Catalano
February 4, 2007

James Moody, Roy Hargrove, Charles McPherson, and Roberta Gambarini Jazz at Lincoln Center, Rose Theater New York City January 26-27

James Moody started off this Jazz at Lincoln Center concert celebrating bebop by hurling a huge challenge. “Bebop is more valid than even classical music said Moody. “Nobody plays Beethoven through the keys. If they want to say classical music is better than jazz, play all those things through different keys, and ...

Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band: Dizzy's Business

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 9, 2006

Arrangiatori fra i più raffinati della scena jazz moderna, Slide Hampton ed Ernie Wilkins raccolgono la sfida di rileggere il più noto repertorio orchestrale di Dizzy Gillespie. Per l’occasione (un concerto commemorativo) sono stati chiamati a raccolta alcuni tra i più stretti collaboratori del magnifico trombettista, per fornire la necessaria patina di autenticità al progetto. James Moody, Jimmy Heath e Frank Wess; ed ancora le pirotecniche, scoppiettanti trombe di Claudio Roditi, Randy Brecker e Roy Hargrove. Ma c’è nel disco ...

James Moody: Hey! It's James Moody

by Andrew Rowan
August 12, 2006

There is nothing earth-shattering on this collection, which was originally issued as two LPs: Flute'n The Blues (1956) and Hey! It's James Moody (1959). What remains remarkable, though, is how fresh James Moody sounds, even when some of the arrangements show their age and some of the ensemble passages lack precise intonation. Indeed, some of these tracks have passed into jazz lore, including “Last Train from Overbrook (the salute to Moody's return to the scene) with Eddie Jefferson's ebullient vocal, ...

Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love

by Suzanne Lorge
August 10, 2006

If Roberta Gambarini had chosen to pursue opera we might be seeing her at the Met instead of in the world's top jazz clubs, so exquisite is the natural lyricism of her voice and her technical mastery of its use. Absent from her performance are the blatant shifts in registration, dicey intonation, and questionable diction that are often stereotypically associated -- rightly or wrongly -- with jazz singing. But a jazz singer Gambarini is, and a fantastic one at that.

Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love

by Victor L. Schermer
July 4, 2006

I first heard vocalist Roberta Gambarini perform a few years ago at the Jazz Standard in New York, soon after she arrived in America from Italy. It was clear even then that she had star potential and, as expected, she has now begun to take her place among the jazz greats, with nowhere to go but over the top. This debut CD is long overdue.Gambarini has thorough command of a pure, clear soprano voice, perfect pitch, and a ...

Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love

by Roger Crane
June 23, 2006

With all due caution about overstatement, let me say that I don't know of a better pure jazz vocalist than Roberta Gambarini. She shows us all that the art of jazz singing is alive and well. During the past few years she has become almost a cult figure, thrilling live international audiences, becoming the subject of enthusiastic discussions on various internet jazz chat forums, and being hailed by numerous insiders as perhaps today's finest young jazz singer. Gambarini is now ...