Jazz Articles about Lauren Baba

About Lauren Baba

Album Review

Grace Kelly with Strings: At the Movies

Read "At the Movies" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 14, 2024

Saxophonist Grace Kelly, who some years ago graduated from the Child Prodigy class in which she was a prominent member, has entered her third decade by recording for the first time with a string-based orchestra. The theme is At the Movies, and Kelly opens with a James Bond medley and closes with five themes from Walt Disney films. Besides playing soprano, alto, tenor and baritone sax, Kelly further shows her versatility by singing on more than half ...

Album Review

Joe Santa Maria: Echo Deep

Read "Echo Deep" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
April 3, 2024

Un solido jazz per middle band (peraltro di tiro spesso molto big), con infiltrazioni easy, è quanto ci arriva da questo album, molto compatto e sostanzialmente corale, del polistrumentista e compositore texano Joe Santa Maria, che ha diviso la sua attività musicale, ormai piuttosto corposa, fra Houston, Boston, New York e Los Angeles. Nella musica che si ascolta in questa quarantina scarsa di minuti, come accennato, prevale largamente la mano dell'autore rispetto a quello che potrebbe essere ...

Album Review

Joe Santa Maria: Echo Deep

Read "Echo Deep" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 26, 2023

In the liner notes, L.A.-based multi-woodwind specialist Joe Santa Maria, known for his contributions to Vinnie Golia ensembles, Django Django, and Kim Richmond and others, reveals that this project took nearly a decade to complete, shaped by his extensive travels and dedicated studies. Notably, he emphasizes the cyclical, trance-like essence embedded within these compositions. The prolonged wait proves worthwhile as Santa Maria's fusion of worldly influences, rooted in his jazz expertise, culminates in an outstanding album poised to grace numerous ...