Jazz Articles about Jeremy Pelt

About Jeremy Pelt

Album Review

Mike LeDonne: The Heavy Hitters

Read "The Heavy Hitters" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
February 16, 2023

There was a period back in the middle years of the 20th Century and beyond when All-Star Groups were quite common, including the Buck Clayton All-Stars, Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, and Gene Harris and the Phillip Morris Superband among several other similar aggregations. In today's musical environment, this kind of coming together of high profile musicians is exceedingly rare, primarily driven by cost issues, although availability of the musicians is also a limiting factor. Pianist & organist Mike LeDonne was ...

Album Review

The Heavy Hitters: The Heavy Hitters

Read "The Heavy Hitters" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 10, 2023

The Heavy Hitters. Hyperbole? A matter of fact? Or simply the name given by co-leaders Mike LeDonne and Eric Alexander to their newly minted sextet. The third statement is true--but so is the second. From pianist LeDonne and tenor saxophonist Alexander to fellow front-liners Jeremy Pelt (trumpet) and Vincent Herring (alto sax) and the Washingtons, Peter on bass and Kenny at the drums, these gentlemen are by any measure heavy hitters. Their first album as a unit ...

Album Review

The Heavy Hitters: Heavy Hitters

Read "Heavy Hitters" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
February 6, 2023

The self-titled debut from the Heavy Hitters, pianist Mike LeDonne's latest sextet, has the feel of a tribute album. However, unlike most recordings of that nature, there is no classic repertoire present, as all nine tracks are penned either by LeDonne or his colleague, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. Instead, it is a tribute to a sound that LeDonne and partners are aiming for: in this case, that of the iconic Blue Note label's 1950s-60s period, when artists such as Freddie ...

Album Review

Adam Shulman: Just The Contrafacts

Read "Just The Contrafacts" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
July 1, 2022

For those who may be scratching their heads about the word contrafact, in the jazz medium it designates a musical composition in which a new melody is overlaid on a familiar harmonic structure. This form really became prominent in the bebop era, where the artists (who were generally short of financial resources) could create new compositions over which they could improvise and record without worrying about paying royalties for copyrighted materials. During the depths of the ...

Album Review

Jeremy Pelt: Soundtrack

Read "Soundtrack" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 25, 2022

Although Soundtrack is the name of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt's latest album (more about that in a moment), there is another selection that more readily summarizes Pelt's lyric philosophy: “I Love Music." And while there is ample contrast, camaraderie and color on the album, there is no doubt that Pelt's clear and creative commentaries are the focal point. As for that title, “Soundtrack" is simply the name of a twenty-year-old ballad written for but never recorded by one of Pelt's earlier ...

Album Review

Various Artists: Black Lives - From Generation to Generation

Read "Black Lives - From Generation to Generation" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 19, 2022

Indeed, African Americans are the architects of several musical formations, hearkening back to Scott Joplin's development of 'ragged' rhythms i.e., Ragtime, along with blues, funk, jazz, and other genres, often evolving into various tangents and offshoots. And on this comprehensively entertaining set produced by Belgian Stefany Calembert with assistance from her husband and acclaimed bassist Reggie Washington, they righteously bestow Black Music as a “source of moral truth and potent weapon against racism." Numerous stars such as saxophonist ...

Album Review

Somi: Zenzile: The Reimagination Of Miriam Makeba

Read "Zenzile: The Reimagination Of Miriam Makeba" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
March 21, 2022

Il legame musicale e simbolico con l'Africa resta centrale nella produzione artistica di Somi, la vocalist e cantautrice statunitense dai genitori africani giunta al successo con gli album The Lagos Music Saloon e Holy Room. Il suo nuovo progetto è dedicato a Miriam Makeba, che avrebbe compiuto 90 anni il 4 marzo, data di pubblicazione del presente album. I brani in scaletta, tutti presi dallo storico repertorio della cantante, sono condivisi col musical Dreaming Zenzile, che Somi ...