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Jazz Articles about Jon-Erik Kellso
Ricky Alexander: Just Found Joy
by Nicholas F. Mondello
The odd picture on the cover of Ricky Alexander's Just Found Joy is neither a takeaway from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (Capitol, 1966) album cover, nor a play on the GOAT acronym. Actually, the album art was photographed at the Store Barns Farm in Downstate New York. This is a superb album of a dozen (less one original) older classic hits played by traditional jazz adepts--if not GOATS--who excel performing in this genre. “People Will Say ...
Continue ReadingThe Bix Centennial All-Stars: Celebrating Bix!
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Cornetist Leon Bismark “Bix" Beiderbecke, while certainly heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, developed his own highly stylized way of playing and improvising jazz. One wonders what musical highlights might have been accomplished had he lived beyond his 28 years. Celebrating Bix!, originally released in 2003 as a single CD album, adds selections which, due to size constraints, did not make the original release, but they all certainly “make it" here as a double CD and vinyl release. What ...
Continue ReadingThe Bix Centennial All Stars: Celebrating Bix!
by Jack Bowers
Here's a new album by the Bix Centennial All Stars honoring the legacy of the renowned cornetist Bix Beiderbecke. Sort of. Actually, most of the music on Celebrating Bix! was recorded and released in March 2003, the actual centenary of Beiderbecke's birth in Davenport, Iowa. This expanded twentieth anniversary edition includes a trio of songs not released at that time owing to limited space, and has been reissued on two CDs instead of one. Having said that, ...
Continue ReadingJon-Erik Kellso and the EarRegulars: Live at the Ear Inn
by Jack Bowers
As trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and his EarRegulars had been performing every Sunday night for more than sixteen years at New York City's historic Ear Inn, Kellso reasoned it was time that one of their concerts should be recorded to share more broadly the fun and enthusiasm that animates every session. Once the ties had been bound, parts of two concerts were recorded, on January 15 and 29, 2023. The music is a hybrid, with one foot planted ...
Continue ReadingCatherine Russell: Send for Me
by Angelo Leonardi
Il valore della tradizione. È l'aspetto che la cantante Catherine Russell ribadisce dal 2006, quando pubblicò il suo primo album da leader, dopo anni di lavoro come corista con Donal Fagen, gli Steely Dan, Wynton Marsalis, Madonna, David Bowie e altri. Quando terminò la collaborazione col cantante britannico dopo l'uscita di Reality (Iso Records 2003), Catherine era prossima ai 50 anni ed era restìa a intraprendere un percorso solista. Invece fu una scelta indovinata, come dimostra il successo dei suoi ...
Continue ReadingScott Hamilton and Duke Robillard: Swingin' Again
by Kyle Simpler
In 1987, Duke Robillard released the album Swing (Rounder), a successful combination of jazz and jump blues. He got his old friend, tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton to help him out with the recording. Although Robillard is primarily known as a blues guitarist, the record made it obvious that jazz is also deeply rooted in his musical DNA. With Swingin' Again, he revisits the jazz world, and he once again teams up with Hamilton to help him out. Robillard ...
Continue ReadingJon-Erik Kellso: Blue Roof Blues
by AAJ Italy Staff
E' affascinante notare come, contro ogni tentativo schematico della critica, il jazz sappia coltivare la convivenza di stili nati in decenni anche lontani. Attualità e avanguardia sono forse concetti romantici da rivedere, ma non è questa la sede.Ci limitiamo a notare quanto possa essere vivo e vitale un CD come Blue Roof Blues--A Love Letter to New Orleans, opera di Jon-Erik Kellso dedicata alla città che è la culla del jazz e alla sua recente sofferenza causata dall'uragano ...
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