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Jazz Articles about Joel Frahm
Sofia Goodman: Secrets of the Shore
by Jack Bowers
Secrets of the Shore, Nashville-based drummer Sophia Goodman's second album, is thematic, and its essential element is water. Goodman wrote or co-wrote the ten numbers, each of which is designed to induce in the listener's mind some aspect of water, from placid to turbulent, gentle to intense. As is true of all thematic enterprises, it rests with the listener to hear and appreciate what the composer has in mind. Goodman fares well in that respect, as her ...
Continue ReadingDiane Marino: I Hear Music
by Nicholas F. Mondello
"I Hear Music," from Nashville-based vocalist, pianist and arranger Diane Marino, is a twelve-track retrospective of selections--famous and not so--drawn from the Songbook, as well as being associated with such great artists as Dakota Staton, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, and others. The opener, the rarely heard “I Hear Music," is Marino's fine upbeat take on an old Burton Lane & Frank Loesser tune from a forgetable pre-WWII film, “Dancing on a Dime" (Paramount Pictures, 1940). It is ...
Continue ReadingJoel Frahm at Jazz At The Joint
by C. Michael Bailey
Joel Frahm Jazz At The Joint North Little Rock, AR July 11, 2022 Synergy. The word was first used in 1600, derived from the Greek συνεργός ("synergos"), which means “to work together" or “to cooperate," with the corollary that the results of this “cooperation" afford an output greater than the sum of its individual parts. When jazz musicians of a certain shared caliber come together, synergy is a given, achieved and evidenced in their performance. ...
Continue ReadingJoel Frahm: The Bright Side
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Joel Frahm is an accomplished virtuoso with an easily recognizable style. He deftly balances an accessible, mellifluous sound with an explorative spirit. His tenth release as a leader, the captivating The Bright Side, is a collection of ten brilliant originals interpreted in a spare trio setting. The laid back atmosphere and the band's seamless camaraderie make for an engaging listening experience and the warmth, whimsy and intelligent motifs create the album's cohesiveness. “Thinking of Benny" opens with ...
Continue ReadingJoel Frahm: The Bright Side
by Dan McClenaghan
Chordless trio recordings featuring saxophone, bass and drums, no piano or guitar in the building, always draw comparisons to 1957 when a pair of the groundbreakers of the genre were recorded by saxophonist Sonny Rollins with A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note Records, 1958) and Way Out West (Contemporary, 1957). Saxophonist Joel Frahm obviously looked back to that time, having transcribed and memorized Rollins' solo on “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise" (from the Village Vanguard album) as ...
Continue ReadingSusan Tobocman: Touch & Go
by Nicholas F. Mondello
A glance at the song list presented here--some rather unique choices, for sure--could lead one to assume that this album warrants a listen. What really slams things home, however, are Susan Tobocman's exceptionally slick arrangements of said selections, her excellent vocal skills, and some fine solo playing. With Touch & Go Tobocman—a Detroit native and now a New Yorker--offers five originals which are enveloped by a number of Top 40 re-imagined hits and a trio of standards ...
Continue ReadingSusan Tobocman: Touch & Go
by Troy Dostert
A triple-threat musician with significant talent as a vocalist, composer and arranger, Susan Tobocman's path to jazz was an unconventional one. Her early interest in poetry led to a scholarship that took her from her hometown, Detroit, to New York, for study at Columbia University. That in turn led to an interest in musical theater, followed by a stint managing the Jimi Hendrix-founded Electric Lady Studios, and then some touring work with the Tom Tom Club. Only afterward, during her ...
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