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About Lonnie Plaxico
Bruce Williams: Solid Perspective
by Jack Bowers
Alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, who doubles as composer, triples as arranger and quadruples as vocalist on one number, brings enviable creds to Solid Perspective, his fifth recording as leader of his quartet. Williams has worked steadily since leaving his native Washington, DC, for New York City, where he has remained for more than two decades, performing with groups large and small both stateside and around the world while polishing his resume as a respected educator and mentor to many rising ...
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Brian Landrus: Just When You Think You Know
by Angelo Leonardi
Non si può eccellere ogni volta. Dopo il superlativo Plays Ellington & Strayhorn Brian Landrus presenta un album meno palpitante ma sempre d'alto livello. Affermato polistrumentista della timbrica grave, Landrus privilegia in questo disco l'uso di sax tenore, flauto soprano e contralto agli strumenti che l'hanno reso famoso: il sax baritono. il clarinetto basso e il flauto basso. Nei quattordici brani del disco il sax tenore è protagonista in cinque ed i flauti in quattro. Al sax baritono sono dedicati ...
Continue ReadingBrian Landrus: Just When You Think You Know
by Jack Bowers
Brian Landrus, best known for his eloquent performances on baritone sax, shows his versatility--as player, composer and arranger--on Just When You Think You Know, his tenth album as leader, adding tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute and bass flute to enlarge an impressive arsenal of musical weaponry. In fact, Landrus unlimbers the baritone on only three of the album's fourteen eclectic numbers--all of which he wrote and arranged. He plays tenor sax on five selections, one or another of ...
Continue ReadingEugenie Jones: Eugenie
by Richard J Salvucci
Eugenie Jones seems to be another one of those singers who did not start out as one but got there as soon as she could. Make no mistake, she ended up in the right profession, self-confessedly in the tradition of Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln. Jones writes as well, and several of her own songs, Starlight Starbright," Hold Back the Night," It's OK," Nothing Better" and Say What You Will" round out a recording of a selection of classics by ...
Continue ReadingIlya Dynov: Bridges
by Edward Blanco
Russian-born composer and drummer Ilya Dynov, a New York-based internationally recognized jazz musician, presents his debut recording on Bridges, a nine-piece repertoire of all original material capturing a neo-bop style of blistering up-tempo jazz with an adventurous slant. After immigrating to Belgium and obtaining his citizenship, where he pursued an advanced musical education, Dynov moved to New York City in 2018, quickly becoming emersed in the city's vibrant jazz scene. For this first album, the drummer assembles an ...
Continue ReadingIlya Dynov: Bridges
by Richard J Salvucci
Is there a distinctive NewYork post-bop sound? If there is, does it owe its existence to some common ancestry? To the revolving cast of players who have populated a number of clubs and bands on a rotating basis since the 1990s? To licks, formulaic harmonies, or just a kind of jazz version of the median voter idea to be a little different, but not enough to scare the audience off? To do justice to the question requires on-the-ground experience, and ...
Continue ReadingBrian Landrus: Red List
by Jerome Wilson
Saxophonist Brian Landrus created this project with a purpose summed up in its subtitle, Music Dedicated to the Preservation of our Endangered Species. The album was made to create awareness about all the animal species on Earth in danger of extinction, thirteen of which are explicitly referenced here. For most of these, such as the Malayan tiger and the snow leopard, only a few hundreds or thousands are still alive. For the Javan rhino, there were only 67 left at ...
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