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Jazz Articles about Joe La Barbera
Joe La Barbera: Experiencing Bill Evans
by Victor L. Schermer
In his own unassuming way, Bill Evans changed the face of jazz piano trio forever. He made the piano a lyrical, expressive voice for the most subtle and deep emotions, and he transformed the rhythm section from a time-beating, swing-maintaining outfit into an intimate, conversational musical unit. He loved tradition. It was just his grasp of the music and the special way that he composed, arranged, and played that influenced his contemporaries and the generations that came after him. He ...
Continue ReadingBill Evans: Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: A Career Retrospective (1956 - 1980)
by Chris May
Only occasionally do classy looking limited-edition box sets prove to be a triumph of style and substance. Too often they are undermined by cheapskate packaging, over elaborate design, poorly written and researched booklets, inadequate session details or, most egregiously, bizarre (in a bad way) track selections. So it is a more than pleasant surprise when something comes along which succeeds, and succeeds magnificently, on all those fronts. Such an item is Concord Records' Craft imprint's Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: ...
Continue ReadingJeff Ellwood: The Sounds Around The House
by Pierre Giroux
As a professional musician hoping to have a meaningful career, hiding one's light under a bushel, may not be the best way to recognizable success. Such might be the case for tenor saxophonist Jeff Ellwood. He may have fallen into the trap evinced by the Dave Frishberg ditty “I Want To Be A Sideman." But as the saying goes; “better late than never" as Ellwood released a self-produced debut, The Sounds Around The House. ...
Continue ReadingCarl Saunders: Jazz Trumpet
by Dan Bilawsky
Septuagenarian trumpeter Carl Saunders, whose horn served and enhanced the music of Stan Kenton, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and numerous other icons, has been a steady presence on the Summit Records imprint. Whether exploring rare Bill Holman charts or crafting a program with a patriotic shine, acting as a featured guest with the Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra, adding some signature zest to the Phil Norman Tentet's material, or offering up his compositions for an ongoing songbook project with heavy-duty leader-participants ...
Continue ReadingCathy Segal-Garcia: The Jazz Chamber
by Jerome Wilson
On this album, Cathy Segal-Garcia, a vocalist and educator on the Los Angeles jazz scene, comes up with something special, working with a chamber orchestra and a group of jazz musicians to produce a wide-ranging program that veers from lush romanticism to complex jazz-funk. On much of the disc, Segal-Garcia's thick, classically formal voice, combined with a full string section, presents a lilting hybrid of jazz and light classical music. On first hearing it sounds a bit too ...
Continue ReadingKen Peplowski: Noir Blue
by AAJ Italy Staff
Ken Peplowski con questo disco sa come comunicare emozioni all'ascoltatore in quanto, come giustamente viene notato nelle note di copertina, “è ispirato" e non perchè deve fare qualcosa per essere presente sul mercato discografico a tutti i costi. Noir Blue costituisce una prova insolita, rivolta ad ascoltatori piuttosto smaliziati, che oltre agli standards di Ray Noble, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn e Hoagy Carmichael offre anche un original come “Little Dogs," brano senza un preciso centro tonale ed ispirato ad Ornette ...
Continue ReadingKen Peplowski: Noir Blue
by Martin Longley
In his liner notes, saxophonist/clarinetist Ken Peplowski reveals that after hitting fifty, he had no desire to make albums that are going through the motions of record company requirements. Not that such bodies are lately in a position to demand anything. He now intends to make recordings when the inspiration is strong and when the circumstances align in an encouraging fashion. A major part of this disc's genesis seems to be the rapport that Peplowski shares with pianist Shelly Berg. ...
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