Home » Jazz Articles » Neal Miner
Jazz Articles about Neal Miner
Sam Taylor: Let Go
by Pierre Giroux
Tenor saxophonist Sam Taylor is a man with a purpose. He is committed to sharing the joy music brings him with like-minded listeners. For this album, he brought together a number of his heroes including trumpeter Terell Stafford, pianist Jeb Patton, bassist Neal Miner and drummer Willie Jones III at one of jazz's most iconic recording studios, the Van Gelder Studios at Englewood Cliffs NJ, on January 31, 2022, under the guidance of engineer Maureen Sickler. ...
Continue ReadingNaama Gheber: If I Knew Then
by C. Michael Bailey
New York City-based vocalist Naama Gheber released her debut recording, Dearly Beloved (Cellar Music) in 2020, just before the global COVID-19 pandemic. With live entertainment brought to a halt, Gheber found herself with time on her hands and no way to promote her considerable talent in live performance. Israeli by birth, Gheber was an enfant terrible who ascended quickly professionally. After being trained at the Center for Jazz Studies in Tel Aviv, Gheber was accepted into the jazz program at ...
Continue ReadingNaama Gheber: The Very Thought of You
by C. Michael Bailey
Naama Gheber closes her 2022 summer season of singles releases with Ray Noble's 1934 composition, “The Very Thought Of You." The song was first recorded by Ray Noble and His Orchestra with Al Bowlly on vocals for HMV in England in April, closely followed by Bing Crosby's performance that same year and enjoying many revivals since then. The spring and summer of 2022 saw Gheber releasing, “Old Mother Hubbard," “I'm A Fool To Want You," “You're Driving Me Crazy," and ...
Continue ReadingNaama Gheber: Dream Dancing
by C. Michael Bailey
Vocalist Naama Gheber released her debut recording Dearly Beloved (Cellar Live, 2020) immediately before the pandemic. In spite of this interruption in the traditional marketing of music, the recording received much positive attention within the All About Jazz community and other outlets. Since the easing of restrictions, Gheber has turned things upside down by releasing as singles her entire upcoming EP If I Knew Then, slated for the street in November. Gheber has already released, “Old Mother Hubbard" ...
Continue ReadingNaama Gheber: You're Driving Me Crazy
by C. Michael Bailey
Vocalist Naama Gheber continues to release singles from her upcoming recording, If I Knew Then, presently due to drop in November 2022. She has previously released the singles “Old Mother Hubbard" and I'm A Fool To Want You. Staying in the same orbit with The Great American Songbook, Gheber affords us the 1930 Walter Donaldson composition, “You're Driving Me Crazy." This song has been a popular feature in film, finding its way into cartoons featuring Betty Boop, Silly ...
Continue ReadingNaama Gheber: Old Mother Hubbard
by C. Michael Bailey
New York-based Israeli vocalist Naama Gheber released her debut Dearly Beloved (Cellar Live) two years ago this month, in April 2020, right at the front of the gaping maw, we came to know as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or COVID-19. In spite of this, Gheber's recording garnered favorable reviews at All About Jazz, as well as elsewhere. Dearly Beloved was an announcement of a supple and gifted talent emerging. With the Covid pandemic arguably behind us, ...
Continue ReadingMike Melito/Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
by Jack Bowers
The album cover says “Mike Melito / Dino Losito Quartet." What it does not say is that drummer Melito and pianist Losito have at their beck-and-call an awesome secret weapon, Philadelphia-based tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna, a phenom from the Lester Young school of elegant swinging whose voice on the horn is as debonair and persuasive as any you are likely to hear. It is hard to imagine while listening to McKenna glide easily through cadences from ballad to barn-burner that ...
Continue Reading
