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Mike Melito: To Swing Is The Thing
by Jack Bowers
The leader of any group whose credo is To Swing Is the Thing had best enlist some hired hands whose propensity to swing is sure and steady, regardless of mood or tempo. Veteran drummer Mike Melito's talented quintet runs that course without breaking a sweat, lending Melito all the help he needs to keep his eighth album as leader bright and swinging from start to finish. Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli and tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart, past masters to ...
Continue ReadingMIke Melito: To Swing Is The Thing
by Pierre Giroux
Rochester NY native Mike Melito is an fine drummer who has been active on the jazz scene for many years. His whose drumming style was inspired by Roy McCurdy, who was an integral part of the jazz groups fronted by both Nat Adderley and Julian “Cannonball" Adderley. With a wide-ride cymbal beat and fluid phrasing, Melito's drumming style shows to full effect on To Swing Is The Thing. Joining him are several standout New York-based musicians including tenor saxophonist Grant ...
Continue ReadingAdam Shulman Septet: West Meets East
by C. Andrew Hovan
Quiet as it's kept, too many of today's finest jazz artists are given short shrift by an industry that seems to value product of a fleeting nature over true craft and a reverence for the jazz legacy. This makes it particularly challenging for a talent like Adam Shulman to break through to a wider audience. A fixture on the Bay Area scene since 2002, the pianist has a knack for accompanying singers such as Paula West and often performs as ...
Continue ReadingMike LeDonne: It's All Your Fault
by Jack Bowers
Even though listed on only four tracks, organist Mike LeDonne's superlative Groover Quartet performs on every one of the nine selections on LeDonne's admirable new recording, It's All Your Fault--and that's a good thing, as each member of the quartet (LeDonne, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, guitarist Peter Bernstein, drummer Joe Farnsworth) is an accomplished soloist and ardent team player. On the album's remaining tracks, the quartet is assimilated into LeDonne's seventeen- member big band, a taut and high-powered unit that ...
Continue ReadingJoe Magnarelli at Smalls Jazz Club
by David A. Orthmann
Joe Magnarelli Quintet Smalls Jazz Club New York, NY September 1, 2020 One hundred days may not sound like a particularly long time in the annals of jazz or, for that matter, any human endeavor. Nevertheless, in the midst of a seemingly endless pandemic that has upended every aspect of our lives, Smalls Jazz Club's persistence in presenting live jazz in a streaming format constitutes a bastion of stability and a major lifeline for ...
Continue ReadingAndy Fusco: Remembrance
by David A. Orthmann
Since 2016 SteepleChase Records has released five discs by alto saxophonist Andy Fusco. This impressive, often stunning body of work goes a long way in raising the profile of a man who had seldom been given the opportunity to record under his own name. While Fusco leads the sessions, he's the antithesis of a star or domineering force. Aside from his prowess on the horn, he possesses an unusual talent for putting together bands of uniquely talented individuals and choosing ...
Continue ReadingAdam Shulman Septet: West Meets East
by Jack Bowers
The “west" here is represented by San Francisco-based pianist and group leader Adam Shulman, the “east" by the other half-dozen members of Shulman's impressive septet. Even though the reasons that led to the alliance are ambiguous, what matters is the payoff, and that is more than admirable from any vantage point. As if to mirror the ensemble's six-and-one makeup, Shulman wrote six of the album's seven engaging numbers; the seventh (the rapid-fire “Whose Blues") was composed by ...
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