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Samara Joy: Samara Joy
by Angelo Leonardi
Samara Joy. Segnatevi il nome perché la giovanissima cantante di New York è destinata a un brillante futuro. Questo disco d'esordio—registrato nell'ottobre 2020 a 22 anni—conferma le doti per cui ha vinto il Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition del 2019. Samara Joy è un naturale talento dal timbro luminoso, che rinnova con grazia e freschezza i classici standard del suo repertorio. Ha splendide doti vocali ma non cerca di stupire con inutili forzature e rilegge la ...
Continue ReadingRay Gallon: Make Your Move
by Pierre Giroux
Although pianist Ray Gallon has been part of the jazz scene for many years, both as a player (with Ron Carter, Art Farmer, Grady Tate) and educator (City College Of New York), Make Your Move is his first release as a leader. Supported by a rhythm section of bassist David Wong and the impeccable drummer Kenny Washington, Gallon swaggers through a selection of his own compositions along with a couple of well-known standards. Starting off with ...
Continue ReadingIn The Moment
by David A. Orthmann
The trail of splendid hard bop influenced recordings extends well beyond the genre's heyday of the 1950s and '60s. A case in point is trumpeter John Swana's appropriately titled In The Moment. The 1996 release on the Criss Cross Jazz imprint merits the exalted status of its celebrated predecessors. Captured in a one-day studio session, despite the familiar stylistic lineage it sounds fresh, spontaneous and unsullied. A sextet of intrepid, strong-willed individuals fully commit themselves to a program of compelling ...
Continue ReadingJohn Swana: Bright Moments
by Victor L. Schermer
Simply put, this album is so listenable and stood out so noticeably among the many CDs I've been spinning for myself recently, that I thought All About Jazz readers ought to know about it. I first heard then trumpeter John Swana a decade or more ago when he jammed at pianist Tom Lawton's memorable long-term gig with the late great bassist Al Stauffer at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia. I was awestruck by Swana's clarity, sustained non-vibrato tone, and ...
Continue ReadingKenny Washington: Moanin'
by Chris Mosey
Feed “Kenny Washington" into Google and up come “Kenny Washington (Football player)," “Kenny Washington (Basketball)" and “Kenny Washington (Drummer)." None of whom is the Kenny Washington who wowed Danish jazz audiences for three nights at Jazzhus Montmartre, Copenhagen in October 2015. That Kenny Washington was born in New Orleans and presently inhabits the Bay Area. Christian Brorsen, music director of the Jazzhus, says, “A great affection developed between Kenny and the audience. The public simply wouldn't let ...
Continue ReadingStevie Holland: Restless Willow
by C. Michael Bailey
With the title derived from the opening track, “It Might As Well Be Spring," singer Stevie Holland could be considered the personified restless willow. Holland has an easy vocal style that never falls prey to over-extension. She swings with a confident grace, her phrasing tasteful and accurate. These are the things that may strike the listener upon spinning Restless Willow for the first time. Skip on over to “Summertime" and hear a performance that will not blaze new trails in ...
Continue ReadingStevie Holland: Restless Willow
by Michael P. Gladstone
On her third album, singer Stevie Holland offers eleven well-balanced cabaret/jazz selections. She is accompanied by a good group that includes Kenny Washington, George Small, Tim Ferguson, Noel Sagerman, Sean Harkness, Steve Kroon, Joe Mennonna and a guest shot from David “Fathead" Newman. Holland has co-written and performed with producer Gary William Friedman in the past and her first album in 2000 consisted of all Friedman material. On this album, Friedman provides the arrangements and orchestrations including strings on some ...
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