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Jazz Articles about Joe Locke

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Album Review

Joe Syrian: Secret Message

Read "Secret Message" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


A title like Secret Message does make a listener wonder what it might be. Is it deeply subversive, like the Zimmerman Telegram, or apocalyptic, like Fatima? Of course, as someone is reputed to have said, 'Sometimes, a cigar is just a smoke.' So it is possible to over-interpret a title, which may, in the final analysis, simply be a title. Joe Syrian is a Detroit-based drummer, a city that can claim Brian Blade, J. C. Heard, ...

3
Album Review

Art Baden: How Much of It Is Real

Read "How Much of It Is Real" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Continuing its well-established mission of documenting some of the noteworthy Russian musicians in today's jazz, the Rainy Days label offers another up-and-comer, tenor saxophonist Art Baden. Joined by three seasoned veterans, Baden provides both fire and sensitivity on his debut disc, How Much of It Is Real--and it is a promising effort all-around. Bassist Jay Anderson, vibraphonist Joe Locke and drummer Jeff Tain Watts will need no introduction to serious followers of mainstream jazz, and they give Baden ...

27
Album Review

Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: Secret Message

Read "Secret Message" reviewed by Jack Bowers


No fuss, no frills here, simply forty-seven or so minutes of generally bright and engaging straight-ahead jazz, stylishly performed by drummer Joe Syrian's admirable Detroit-based octet. This is music the group plays often, blending standards from the Great American Songbook with more recent themes by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Leon Russell and others. The congenial session opens with a pair of well-traveled standards--"Bye Bye Blackbird," and “Star Eyes"--and closes with two more- -"Night and ...

1
Album Review

Gino Amato: Latin Crossroads

Read "Latin Crossroads" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


The urge to take advantage of a successful commercial genre never really dies. Back in the 1960s, a studio orchestra nominally assembled by bandleader Glen Gray released a recording, Sounds of the Great Bands in Latin (Capitol, 1964). It took tunes like “Early Autumn" or “A String of Pearls" and added a “Latin" flavor with jazz enhancements. No doubt, this was an early recognition of the success of Cal Tjader. The vinyl may or may not have done well, but ...

3
Album Review

Bevan Manson featuring Tierney Sutton with The Hollywood Studio Orchestra: Talking to Trees

Read "Talking to Trees" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


Bevan Manson is an artist who has a creative duality. As a pianist, composer/arranger and educator, he's been successful in classical and jazz environments. With Talking to Trees, Manson provides an array of both originals and jazz standards, most with an arboreal tint, as the title indicates. The work is a validation that his pen, guiding the talents of vocalist Tierney Sutton and L.A.'s premium players, can make the familiar fascinating and the novel intriguing. Miles Davis' ...

7
Album Review

Darden Purcell: Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood

Read "Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood" reviewed by Geannine Reid


Darden Purcell's album Love's Got Me In A Lazy Mood (OA2 Records, 2023) shows her keen ear for the subtleties and nuances which define the West Coast cool jazz vocal sound. Purcell's album comprises eleven tracks which blend the laid-back, sophisticated rhythms and melodic inventiveness that characterize the style with beautiful singing and nimble playing. Purcell is joined by an ensemble of musicians whose contributions are pivotal to the album's charm and success. On six tracks the ensemble ...

10
Album Review

Joe Locke: Makram

Read "Makram" reviewed 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 ...


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