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The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: As I Was Saying
by Jack Bowers
Remember the good old days before high-tech hardware and software seized control and the country's leading big bands were recorded in a studio or in concert employing a wide dynamic range with no overdubs or splices to enhance the performance? Composer and arranger Len Pierro does, which is why he planned As I Was Saying, the second album with his Philadelphia-based Jazz Orchestra, to mirror those classic recordings by the likes of Woody Herman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich ...
Continue ReadingJD Walter: What the World Needs Now
by Pierre Giroux
JD Walter beckons listeners into a soulful and captivating journey through modern jazz interpretations of non-jazz material. With his unique vocal stylings and innovative arrangements, he brings a fresh perspective to familiar popular tunes, and several jazz standards, while delivering thought-provoking original compositions. From the very first track--Stevie Wonder's “Golden Lady"--it is evident that Walter's vocal prowess is a force to be reckoned with. He dashes along in full flight and then effortlessly shifts into intricate ...
Continue ReadingJoe Locke: Makram
by Neil Duggan
One of the leading vibraphone specialists of the 21st century, Joe Locke has won multiple awards and performed with artists as diverse as the Beastie Boys and Ron Carter. It's not just his musicianship on the vibraphone that sets him apart. He is a highly versatile arranger, incorporating soul and international influences. Named after the Lebanese bassist Makram Aboul Hosn, Makram is an eclectic mix of the comforting, the challenging and the familiar. Locke's customary quartet features pianist ...
Continue ReadingEric Goletz: Standard-ized!
by Jack Bowers
If variety is on your wish list, you will find a lot to like on Standard-ized!, New York-based trombonist Eric Goletz's third album in three years. Group size and makeup are seldom the same, Goletz's charts traverse new realms, there are special guests to enhance the proceedings, and Goletz even enlists a six-piece string “orchestra" on several numbers. The strings accompany one of the guests, vocalist LaJuan Carter, on the Nat King Cole chart-topper, “Nature Boy," and ...
Continue ReadingEric Goletz: A New Light
by Richard J Salvucci
Eric Goletz is a virtuoso trombonist who also writes and arranges. On first hearing, his core band may put some in mind of Chase, Bill Chase's high-flying group that featured both vocals and technically demanding trumpet. Goletz has something similar going on. The music opens with “Prelude: Before the Light" and “A New Light," with a stinging solo by guitarist Henry Heinitsch. Goletz, it may be observed, is the logical outcome of jazz-rock and funk meets brass ...
Continue ReadingEric Goletz: A New Light
by Jack Bowers
Trombonist Eric Goletz, an in-demand studio musician and sideman in New York City for three decades, released his first album as leader of his own ensemble in March 2021, and quickly followed with the second, A New Light, wherein his core octet is bolstered by three trumpets, half a dozen horns and a five-member string section. Among his more well-known teammates are trumpeter Randy Brecker, pianist Jim Ridl, keyboardist Allen Farnham and drummer Steve Johns. Goletz' musical ...
Continue ReadingPaul Jost: While We Were Gone
by Richard J Salvucci
According to Francis Bacon, some books are to be tasted and others to be swallowed whole. Likewise with recordings. Some are to be sampled. Others are to be thoroughly assimilated. Where the listener lands with Paul Jost will depend on a host of things. Are you political? If so, are you progressive? Then by all means, this recording is for you. Jost's soliloquy, “January 6th: An Appeal for Reason" will no doubt be convincing. If your politics are ...
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