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Gerry Gibbs: Songs from My Father
by Edward Blanco
Drummer Gerry Gibbs pays tribute to father Terry Gibbs on the amazing nineteen-track double-CD set Songs from My Father featuring a guest appearance by the ninety-seven-year-old vibraphonist on one track, among other surprises, including the last studio performance by the late jazz icon Chick Corea, who also wrote “Tango for Terry" for this homage and is the only non-Gibbs composition on the album. Son Gerry had plenty of his father's music to choose from when contemplating this project but chose ...
Continue ReadingGerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios: Songs from My Father
by Jack Bowers
Songs from My Father. What a marvelous idea!—and not simply for the sentiment. Drummer Gerry Gibbs' father happens to be Hall of Fame vibraphonist (and sometime song writer) Terry Gibbs, who is still on the scene at ninety-seven (and, in fact, making a guest appearance on the first disc of this superlative two-CD set). Eighteen of the elder Gibbs' songs, written between 1949 and 1985 (and one more, “Tango for Terry," by the late Chick Corea) are performed by four ...
Continue ReadingGreg Abate: Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron
by Rob Rosenblum
Magic Dance is an offering by multi instrumentalist Greg Abate, who is a proud keeper of the bebop flame. In the 75 plus years that bebop has been around, there have probably been hundreds of thousands of quartet records with sax, piano, bass and drums, a few of which have been contributed by Abate. But this one is a departure from his previous releases, and because it isn't the bare bones presentation that jazz fans are accustomed to, it may ...
Continue ReadingKenny Barron - Dave Holland Trio feat. Johnathan Blake: Without Deception
by Angelo Leonardi
A distanza di sei anni dal celebrato The Art f Conversation, Kenny Barron e Dave Holland introducono nel loro sodalizio il batterista Johnathan Blake per realizzare un nuovo pregevole lavoro che non ricalca—com'è giusto che sia—quello precedente. In questa modifica di formazione pesa il fantasioso apporto ritmico del batterista ma non è l'unico fattore. In quel disco sei dei dieci brani erano ballad o temi lirici che favorivano un dialogo intimo tra i due maestri, qui prevalgono composizioni ritmicamente spigliate, ...
Continue ReadingRoseanna Vitro: Listen Here
by C. Michael Bailey
Roseanna Vitro is a singer's singer in the same way as Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. She is a studied practitioner of the jazz vocal arts, an interpreter, performer, educator. Her repertoire, taste, and vocal chops are beyond compare. Vitro's ability has evolved horizontally and vertically over 14 recordings and nearly 40 years. The singer's most recent release, Tell Me The Truth (Skyline, 2018), was thematically devoted to the rich music of the American South where Vitro capably migrates from ...
Continue ReadingJimmy Heath: Love Letter
by Thomas Fletcher
Often nicknamed “Little Bird," Jimmy Heath began on the alto saxophone acquiring this informal title by dedicating his studies to Charlie Parker and his wee stature. Although not a familiar name to many outside of the devoted jazz community, Heath would go on to pursue a remarkable 76-year career sadly passing away in January, 2020. A fabled musician to many tenor players, Heath presents us with his final testament, a collection of formative ballads. Enhancing the already prolific ...
Continue ReadingJimmy Heath: Love Letter
by Chris May
Love Letter is the final album to be made by saxophonist Jimmy Heath, who passed in January 2020 aged 93. It was completeted just a month earlier. The title is well chosen: the album is a love letter to jazz, a love letter to ballads, and a love letter to Heath's surviving family members, friends and audience. Soulful and luminous, it is everything one could hope for in the last will and testament of a jazz master. ...
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