Jazz Articles about Jeff Grubbs

About Jeff Grubbs

Album Review

Teddy Pantelas Trio: Shadow Warrior

Read "Shadow Warrior" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
November 2, 2025

There is no denying the importance of place when it comes to a jazz musician's sound. Louis Armstrong will forever be tied to New Orleans, and Sonny Rollins to New York. The same can be said of guitarist Teddy Pantelas, whose musical voice reflects a distinctly Midwestern sensibility--stretching from Missouri to Indiana, and grounded in his Northeastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania roots. His lineage traces through regional greats like Pittsburgh-born Joe Pass and George Benson, as well as Cleveland's Bill ...

Album Review

Tania Grubbs: The Sound of Love

Read "The Sound of Love" reviewed by John Chacona

by John Chacona
January 16, 2025

Meet a person from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and you are likely to get a Chamber of Commerce-worthy commendation of their city's greatness. When it comes to jazz, the civic pride is more than warranted; the Steel City was home to immortals such as Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Art Blakey and Kenny Clarke. Vocalist Tania Grubbs grew up just over the state line in Ohio, but she has lived and worked in The 'Burgh, as natives affectionately call it, for some ...

Album Review

Jason Kush: Finally Friday

Read "Finally Friday" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 15, 2023

Simply narrating the resume of saxophonist/educator/writer/composer Jason Kush would require more space than is usually devoted to an entire review. For someone his age--or even someone older--Kush, currently an associate professor at Slippery Rock (PA) University, has had an exceptionally wide and productive career as a performer, teacher and author in a multitude of genres in the U.S. and around the world. What matters here, of course, is how well Kush fares on Finally Friday, the third ...

Album Review

The Reid Hoyson Project: Your Move

Read "Your Move" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 13, 2022

The Reid Hoyson Project consists of two groups, each of which showcases the insuperable talents of saxophonist Keith Bishop who plays tenor with a close-knit quintet, alto with the more spacious octet. Drummer Hoyson, a fixture on the Pittsburgh jazz scene for roughly half a century, waited until Bishop was available before recording his latest album, and listeners can be thankful that he did, as it is hard to imagine what the enterprise might have resembled without him. While the ...