Jazz Articles about Kevin Winard

About Kevin Winard

Album Review

Jazz vocalist and songwriter Sylvia Brooks embarks on an ambitious lyrical odyssey on her sixth recording, Soliloquy, released on SBM Records. As a classically trained mezzo-soprano with a three-octave range, Brooks utilizes an expressive and agile instrument to illuminate the challenges, heartbreaks, and wonders of life. The album is framed as a work of Lyric Jazz comprising four standards and four originals co-written with pianist and arranger Christian Jacob, backed by a talented band. The project brings together strong artistic ...

Album Review

Betty Bryant: Nothin' Better To Do...

Read "Nothin' Better To Do..." reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
January 24, 2026

Betty Bryant's nothin' better to do.. radiates the natural confidence of a seasoned club date, where the music speaks for itself. A pianist, singer, and composer whose artistry has been shaped by decades of experience rather than trends (at the impressive age of 96), Bryant brings a storyteller's instinct and a deep respect for melody to this session. Producer Robert Kyle, himself a seasoned saxophonist and flautist, places her in a setting that is both intimate and expansive, featuring a ...

Album Review

Doug MacDonald: Santa Monica Session

Read "Santa Monica Session" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
January 15, 2025

Does Doug MacDonald ever sleep? Take a day off? Make a bad recording? Somehow, a listener doubts it. Originally from Philadelphia--home to a few good guitarists, right?--MacDonald moved to Hawaii, Las Vegas, and then to Southern California. His current discography is nothing if not impressive, running to at least three dozen CDs, and MacDonald performs 300 times a year. Do the math. He performs 5 days out of 6 on average, not bad for a player half his age--and MacDonald ...

Album Review

Natalie Jacob: Sooner Or Later

Read "Sooner Or Later" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 2, 2024

Sooner Or Later is jazz vocalist Natalie Jacob's debut release. It is a refreshing addition to the jazz landscape, blending classic Great American Songbook tunes and bossa nova standards. Produced by Grammy Award winner Scotty Barnhart, the album benefits from the contributions of an outstanding ensemble, including Barnhart on trumpet, pianist Tamir Hendelman, guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Carlitos Del Puerto, drummer Clayton Cameron and percussionist Kevin Winard. This all-star lineup created a rich backdrop for Jacob's compelling vocal interpretations.

Album Review

Chad Edwards: Wyoming Roads

Read "Wyoming Roads" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
June 30, 2024

In his performing career, pianist Chad Edwards has probably heard more wisecracks and quips about his actually being a retired rocket scientist than there are stars in the Cosmos. However, rest assured--as he has done in his parallel and now formal career, and is presented in Wyoming Roads--his keyboard and compositional talents certainly stand on their own. It is a fine nine track collection of five Edwards' originals and four Great American Songbook classics, with the pianist backed up by ...

Liner Notes

John Basile: Heatin' Up

by Bill Milkowski
April 2, 2024

John Basile's warm tone and impeccable articulation on Heatin' Up at first may trigger memories of the late, great Pat Martino, an iconic guitarist whom Basile obviously admires. But listen closer to the elegant phrasing, the confident use of space and “less is more" approach he applies to tunes like Cy Coleman's “See Saw," the oft-covered standard “For All We Know" or his own gorgeous ballad “Countenance," and another influence comes to mind. As Basile put it, “There's no stronger ...

Album Review

Betty Bryant: Lotta Livin'

Read "Lotta Livin'" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 8, 2024

First, double-check to make sure there aren't any misprints. No, it's an honest-to-goodness fact that Betty Bryant--who sings, plays piano, wrote four of the nine numbers and arranged half a dozen on her fourteenth album--really was almost ninety-four years old when Lotta Livin' was recorded in 2023. Bryant's rough and edgy voice is remarkably strong and steady, while her piano playing simply defies any generational labels. As a vocalist, no note seems out of her reach, and ...