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Jazz Articles about Larry Koonse
Judy Wexler: No Wonder
by Dan Bilawsky
Judy Wexler imbues every song she touches with a sense of realism, wonder and depth that's ever so rare. An inimitable artist, this celebrated singer adds volumes to each story she encounters, be it a post-millennial jazz tune, '60s counterculture anthem, glimmering Brazilian jewel or any number of other finds. In the case of No Wonder--Wexler's seventh album, arriving two decades after her debut--she demonstrates her gifts with a marked emphasis on standards. Longtime collaborator/pianist Jeff Colella's ...
Continue ReadingJulie Kelly: Freedom Jazz Dance
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Freedom Jazz Dance from Los Angeles singer, Julie Kelly offers an interesting array of selections that emanate from that musical road less traveled. And, as in life, sometimes that road yields nuggets of delight that would most likely never make it to the tried and “true way." Peter Nero and Carroll Coates' “New York on Sunday" opens things and is a lilting snap on 2 and 4 groove with Kelly joyously covering it and Josh Nelson slickly ...
Continue ReadingLauren White: Making It Up As We Go Along
by Nicholas F. Mondello
With this, her fifth album, Los Angeles-based Renaissance lady, Lauren White offers eleven intriguing selections across a range of styles and sources, backed up by some of the city's best. While shrewdly avoiding the tried, true and over-recorded, White uses her subtle skills with taste and maturity. Interestingly, the album plays sequentially as if it were a performance. That is one of its attractions. Launching things, Steely Dan's “I'm Not the Same Without You" is a coy ...
Continue ReadingJosh Nelson: LA Stories: Live at Sam First
by Robert Petersen
Josh Nelson's LA Stories: Live at Sam First was recorded in February 2022 at Sam First, which has quickly become the heartbeat of L.A.'s jazz community. With this album, Nelson continues a love letter to Los Angeles he began with his 2017 release, The Sky Remains, which was part of his Discovery Project multimedia series. In a city where history is too often forgotten, Nelson puts it center stage. In “Tiburcio," Nelson conjures the life of the 19th ...
Continue ReadingJudy Whitmore: Isn't It Romantic
by Richard J Salvucci
"Take a page out of Judy Whitmore's playbook for life, and be inspired by a true modern-day Renaissance woman--cabaret and recording artist, best-selling author, and licensed jet pilot--whose passion for adventure has audiences and readers across America abandoning their fears and reawakening to long-forgotten dreams and new desires." Thus Judy Whitmore, her web page. Ms. Whitmore, you may gather, is not a professional jazz singer Of course, it would be hard to know what exactly qualifies someone as ...
Continue ReadingJudy Whitmore: Isn't It Romantic
by Jack Bowers
Sometimes it is a pleasure to listen to an album simply because the quality of the music is so consistently gratifying. And if the music is sung as well as Judy Whitmore sings it on Isn't It Romantic, well, that is icing on the cake, as are the superb performances by her supporting cast, especially pianist Tamir Hendelman and saxophonist Rickey Woodard. The music is taken for the most part from the Great American Songbook, and much ...
Continue ReadingJudy Whitmore: Isn't It Romantic
by Pierre Giroux
It seems that for most singers at some point in their career, delving into the Great American Songbook is “de rigueur." And why is that? Perhaps it's because the melodies are captivating, the lyrics are meaningful, and the quality of the compositions has proven to be timeless. In any event singer Judy Whitmore has added her name to that long list of vocalists who have taken the up the challenge with her third release. There are ...
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