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Alliance: Alliance
by Jack Bowers
Alliance is an impressive all-female co-op quartet whose self-titled debut album, recorded in 2023, offers a luminous snapshot of their remarkable talent and versatility. Reed virtuoso Sharel Cassity, an alumna of New York City's world-class DIVA Jazz Orchestra, oversees the front line, while pianist Hannah Meyer provides an eloquent reciprocal perspective and shares the essential rhythmic duties with bassist Carmani Edwards and drummer Colleen Clark. Up-and-coming trumpeter Kellin Hanas makes a guest appearance on the session's closing number, Harold Mabern's ...
Continue ReadingAlliance: Alliance
by Dan Bilawsky
The eponymous debut from Alliance--a collective quartet spearheaded by saxophonist Sharel Cassity and drummer Colleen Clark, and harmonically hinged on pianist Hannah Mayer and bassist Carmani Edwards-- is a shining example of the strength behind a pact in play. A sorority built on substantial musical prowess and possibilities, this is a band that's locked and loaded for action. Mixing carefully-chosen covers with winning originals, Alliance confidently endears itself to ears across this nine-song program. Opening on Mulgrew ...
Continue ReadingIntroducing Trumpeter Kellin Hanas
by Sanford Josephson
As a four-year-old, growing up in Wheaton, IL, Kellin Hanas was a fan of the TV show, The Wiggles. “There were four Australian guys in colorful shirts, and they would sing songs," she recalled. “In one of their shows, they brought out this guy with a little trumpet. I guess, from watching that, I had a dream one night that I was playing trumpet on a stage, and I was a soloist." Fast forward three years to when ...
Continue ReadingDiva Jazz Orchestra: "30": Live at Dizzy's Club
by Jack Bowers
The “30" in the title of the superlative all-woman Diva Jazz Orchestra's latest album stands for 30 years, which, believe it or not, is how long the orchestra and its remarkable drummer and leader, Sherrie Maricle, have been up and running and making beautiful music at home and abroad. Among U.S.-based big bands, it would seem that only Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman have had longer runs than that. Fast company indeed. So is Diva ready for comparisons? ...
Continue ReadingNYO Jazz: We're Still Here
by Jack Bowers
The “NYO" in NYO Jazz is shorthand for National Youth Orchestra, a marvelous concept that should be cloned and shipped to as many cities, towns and villages as possible. NYO, comprising carefully chosen musicians, ages 16 to 19, from across the U.S.A. is based at Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute in New York City, and We're Still Here marks its first full-length recording. The NYO's artistic director is trumpeter, composer and educator Sean Jones who is featured ...
Continue ReadingGrace Fox Big Band: Eleven O'Seven
by Jack Bowers
In the long history of jazz, it is rare for a teenage musician to establish a big band, let alone lead one. In fact (historians will have to verify this), it may never have happened. One thing is certain—no teenage woman has ever formed a big band and become its leader. Until now. Meet trumpeter Grace Fox, a nineteen-year-old student at the Manhattan School of Music, founder and leader of the seventeen-member, all-female Grace Fox Big Band, which has recorded ...
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