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Judy Wexler: Back to the Garden
by Richard J Salvucci
Man, if you can pick a tougher project to sell to an aging Boomer than Judy Wexler's Back to the Garden, then you will have to say what it might be. For a lot of the Swinging and Breathing Elderly, this music is intensely personal. Not just where were you, or who were you with? But what were you doing? And most of all, why? Not everyone was a protester or a demonstrator, much less a hippie. Not everyone made ...
Continue ReadingJudy Wexler: Back to the Garden
by Nicholas F. Mondello
A glance at the tracks on this album might make one think that it is a well-selected gathering of '60s message tunes from compilation stalwart, Rhino Records. That not being the case, rest assured that Back to the Garden presents those iconic Pop selections so incredibly re- imagined that what we experience could easily be considered “new selections." Judy Wexler--petite in stature, but tremendously talented and agile in artistry--and her cadre of LA's best, delivers her finest performance ...
Continue ReadingScott Whitfield & Friends: A Bi-Coastal Christmas
by Jack Bowers
If trombonist Scott Whitfield's A Bi-Coastal Christmas cannot quicken your inner holiday spirit, that will not be for lack of trying. Whitfield uses every ribbon in the packet and every tool in the shed to help make the season bright, from big band to quintet, from duo to solo (Whitfield's trombone all by itself). Two of the selections were recorded in 2004, four others in 2005, whereas Whitfield's brace of solo tracks was taped in 2020 as he cast off ...
Continue ReadingJeff Colella/Putter Smith: Lotus Blossom
by Dan Bilawsky
Lotus Blossom is an absorbing date that projects plaintive beauty, reflective moods, and introspective ideals. It's a meeting of two master musicians who engage in thoughtful conversation that's quietly emotive. Pianist Jeff Colella, who's worked with everybody from vocalist Lou Rawls to arranging-composing legend Bill Holman, and bassist Putter Smith, whose credits include extensive work with pianist Alan Broadbent and a whole host of other jazz greats, weren't strangers before this recording. They'd actually been playing together, ...
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