Jazz Articles about Josh Nelson

About Josh Nelson

Album Review

Kenny Washington: What's The Hurry

Read "What's The Hurry" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
August 30, 2020

Despite what many may think, there's no prescribed timeline for firsts and career milestones. Some artists decide to initially take the reins to record when they're 18. Others only get around to doing it when they're 80. The bottom line: The right time is the right time, and nobody should worry about getting there before they're ready. What's the hurry? Feeding into that line of thinking is the debut studio date from veteran vocalist Kenny Washington. A ...

Album Review

Carl Saunders: Jazz Trumpet

Read "Jazz Trumpet" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 8, 2020

Septuagenarian trumpeter Carl Saunders, whose horn served and enhanced the music of Stan Kenton, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and numerous other icons, has been a steady presence on the Summit Records imprint. Whether exploring rare Bill Holman charts or crafting a program with a patriotic shine, acting as a featured guest with the Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra, adding some signature zest to the Phil Norman Tentet's material, or offering up his compositions for an ongoing songbook project with heavy-duty leader-participants ...

Album Review

Josh Nelson Trio: The Discovery Project: Live In Japan

Read "The Discovery Project: Live In Japan" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 3, 2020

When pianist Josh Nelson's name surfaces in conversation, the art of the trio isn't typically a topic that comes up. A first-call accompanist and collaborator for the vocal elite, and a conceptualist who's crafted smartly arranged musical love letters to everything from steampunk sci-fi to the City of Los Angeles as part of his ongoing Discovery Project, Nelson is a creative force to be reckoned with. You just don't really hear much about triangular pursuits in his portfolio. That's what ...

Album Review

The Lorca Hart Trio: Colors Of Jazz

Read "Colors Of Jazz" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
April 25, 2020

West Coast drummer Lorca Hart presents a collection of vibrant traditional jazz on the exciting Colors of Jazz, from the Lorca Hart Trio augmented by saxophonist Ralph Moore. Offering a mix of original compositions with four cover tunes, the canvas of nine sparkling pieces paints a portrait that's far more than pleasing to the ear, it's quite compelling. Originally from Taos, New Mexico and son of jazz great and drummer Billy Hart, Hart is an in-demand player and educator at ...

Album Review

Josh Nelson: The Sky Remains

Read "The Sky Remains" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
September 4, 2017

Josh Nelson has seen quite a bit in recent times, diving deep into the human psyche with singer Sara Gazarek, moving through inner spaces with vibraphonist Tyler Blanton, exploring retrofuturistic realms inspired by the writings of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, and touching down on Mars for a thorough musical exploration of the Red Planet. So where could he possibly want to go after traveling so far and wide with his pen and piano? Right back home, of course. With ...

Album Review

Josh Nelson: Exploring Mars

Read "Exploring Mars" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 9, 2015

Exploring Mars is fueled by a love of science fiction, intellectual inquisitiveness, and musical inventiveness of the highest order. Pianist Josh Nelson, initially inspired by the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars in the summer of 2012, put together a project that's musically expansive and wholly unique: It's safe to say that he's the first person to tie together author Ray Bradbury's writings, original music that ranges from the friendly to the far-out, tributes to four rover landings, and ...

Album Review

Josh Nelson: Exploring Mars

Read "Exploring Mars" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
February 20, 2015

Mars, the forth planet from the sun--that blood red star arcing across the sky--has been investigated by many in the arts. Before NASA landed four rovers on the red planet's surface, science fiction writers took up the task of exploring our planetary neighbor: Edgar Rice Burroughs with his fantastic Barsoom series, beginning with Princess of Mars (1917), Ray Bradbury with the poetic Martian Chronicles (1950), and Kim Stanley Robinson with his superb, adventurous and scientifically fact-based Red Mars (1993 are ...