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Joe Magnarelli: Decidedly so
by Jack Bowers
Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli has been a bright light on the New York-area jazz scene for four decades, since arriving in the city in 1986 from his native Syracuse, NY. On Decidedly So, his eighteenth recording and third for Cellar Music, Magnarelli ushers a top-drawer quintet through its paces in a pleasing session that encompasses a trio of standards and five original compositions, including four of his own. The only fresh theme not written by Magnarelli is the album's ...
Continue ReadingJoe Magnarelli: Decidedly so
by Pierre Giroux
Joe Magnarelli's Decidedly So strongly reaffirms the enduring virtues of straight-ahead jazz, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, where these qualities have long been valued. Brought to life in March 2025 before a small but attentive audience, the session benefits from a rare blend of relaxed confidence and deliberate swing that can only come from musicians who know exactly who they are and what they cherish. Joined by trombonist Steve Davis and a top-tier rhythm section ...
Continue ReadingMark Sherman: Bop Contest
by Pierre Giroux
Vibraphonist and composer Mark Sherman has long been recognized as one of the music's most articulate advocates for straight-ahead values, grounding his virtuosity in the clarity and craftsmanship that define the bop lineage. Bop Contest, his 2025 release, continues that tradition with poise and conviction. Surrounded by a top-tier rhythm section comprising pianist Donald Vega, the legendary bassist Ron Carter, the exuberant drummer Carl Allen, and guest trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, Sherman delivers a program that balances reverence for ...
Continue ReadingJoe Magnarelli: Concord
by David A. Orthmann
Throughout a career spanning over four decades, much of it spent in the trenches of New York City's notoriously competitive jazz scene, trumpeter/flugelhornist Joe Magnarelli has established a distinct identity within the broad parameters of the bop and hard bop idioms. Concord, Magnarelli's third release for the venerable SteepleChase Productions imprint, arguably his finest work in the studio, contains his virtues in spades. The disc's ten tracks serve as a reminder that, for all these years, he has not been ...
Continue ReadingMark Sherman: Bop Contest
by Jack Bowers
Following four well-received albums on which he played piano, the versatile Mark Sherman has placed the keyboard in the capable hands of Donald Vega and returned to his main instrument, the vibraphone, for the eloquent and delightful Bop Contest, Sherman's twenty-second recording in a prestigious career that has spanned nearly half a century. Although Sherman has shared the studio with a who's who of renowned bassists, he had never released an album, until now, with the Hall ...
Continue ReadingJoe Magnarelli on Hard Bop, Persistence, and his New York Journey
by David Bixler
For nearly forty years, trumpeter Joe Magnarelli has been a fixture on the New York City jazz scene, gracing the bandstands of icons like Brother Jack McDuff, Lionel Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Harry Connick Jr. While playing with these legends, he continued to hone his skills in a variety of small groups, both as a sideman and a leader. His latest work, Concord, is a testament to that unyielding drive. The title, a word defined as “agreement or harmony between ...
Continue ReadingJoe Magnarelli: Hoop Dreams
by C. Andrew Hovan
As Duke Ellington would often remind us, music comes in two varieties, that which is good and that which is bad. This suggests that genre and category are really of little concern and that overall quality is really the defining factor in considering the validity of any musical expression. Taking this axiom one step further, let me suggest that good music comes in assorted varieties. On one end of the spectrum you have music brimming with complex structures and technical ...
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