Jazz Articles about Larry Koonse

Brian Scanlon: Brain Scan

by Nicholas F. Mondello
March 14, 2020

Woodwind artist Brian Scanlon has established himself as one of the most respected of the go-to players working the L.A. studio scene. His offerings in the Grammy®-winning “Big Phat Band" have lent plenty to that unit's success. In the intriguingly named Brain Scan, Scanlon moves out into the leader's spotlight with a superb nine-cut effort featuring some superlative solo and killer small ensemble work. Eight of the diversely-grooved cuts are Scanlon originals, many of which are contemporized ...

Larry Koonse: New Jazz Standards, Vol. 4

by Dan Bilawsky
April 24, 2019

This fourth volume in a series of recordings saluting and promoting the music of trumpeter Carl Saunders is every bit as sophisticated and attractive as its predecessors. Guitarist Larry Koonse leads the way through a dozen songs with supreme style and grace, comfortably placing this collection right next to earlier Saunders sets helmed by flutist Sam Most, trombonist Scott Whitfield, and pianist Roger Kellaway. Koonse, fronting a first-rate quartet filled out by pianist Josh Nelson, bassist Tom ...

Larry Koonse & Darek Oleszkiewicz: Storybook

by Michael P. Gladstone
March 13, 2007

In a new venture and on a new jazz label, Jazz Compass, West Coast guitarist Larry Koonse and bassist Darek “Oles" Oleszkiewicz essentially perform a series of duets, with the subtle assistance of percussionist Munyungo Jackson.

These ten original compositions feature the musicians in a series of intimate duets and trios that feature the melody played by both the bassist as well as the guitarist. The compositions have a feeling of shared lyrical empathy and seem influenced by ...

Koonse / La Barbera / Warrington / Jenkins / Cunliffe: Snowfall: A Jazz Compass Christmas Celebration

by Jim Santella
January 1, 2007

The holidays provide a chance for everyone to sit back, relax, and enjoy something different. It's not like the rest of the year, where we're pulled and pushed this way and that. Instead, the year-end holidays give us an opportunity to set things right, and we've earned it. As the song goes, “we're gonna find out who's naughty or nice. For most of us, that means we can enjoy a special treat that lasts from Christmas Eve to New Year's ...

Larry Koonse: Americana

by Jack Bowers
May 3, 2003

Guitarist Larry Koonse recorded Americana in ’97, then had to wait for the passage of six years and the formation of a receptive record label to see it released. The label is Jazz Compass, an online venture established by Koonse, bassist Tom Warrington, drummer Joe LaBarbera and trumpeter Clay Jenkins to “provide the serious jazz listener with outstanding improvisational music,” and Americana is among its first four releases, one by each of the co-founders.

As with the ...