Jazz Articles about Jeff Colella

About Jeff Colella

Album Review

Mark Masters Ensemble: Sui Generis

Read "Sui Generis" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
October 26, 2024

Sui Generis by the Mark Masters Ensemble featuring trumpeter Tim Hagans is an inventive addition to the world of contemporary jazz. Known for his deft compositions and dynamic arrangements, Mark Masters delivers a collection of nine original compositions, each of which embodies the spirit of spontaneity. Joining Masters in this session are a group of musicians known for their high bar of musicianship, including alto saxophonist Nicole McCabe, tenor and soprano saxophonist Jerry Pinter, trombonist Dave Woodley, French hornist John ...

Album Review

The Scott Whitfield Jazz Orchestra West: Postcards from Hollywood

Read "Postcards from Hollywood" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 8, 2023

While many people have been excited or enraptured by the music scores accompanying Hollywood's most beloved films, few know (or perhaps even care) who wrote them. That's a shame, as these composers (and their contemporaries) were musical trailblazers whose names should be enshrined forever in the annals of artistic brilliance. One who does care is composer/arranger Scott Whitfield who has dedicated the latest album by his Jazz Orchestra West, Postcards from Hollywood, to their remarkable (and too-often overlooked) legacy.

Album Review

Judy Wexler: Back to the Garden

Read "Back to the Garden" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
June 2, 2021

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 ...

Album Review

Judy Wexler: Back to the Garden

Read "Back to the Garden" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
May 29, 2021

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 ...

Album Review

Scott Whitfield & Friends: A Bi-Coastal Christmas

Read "A Bi-Coastal Christmas" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 31, 2020

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 ...

Album Review

Jeff Colella/Putter Smith: Lotus Blossom

Read "Lotus Blossom" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 17, 2014

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, ...