Jazz Articles about Peter Bernstein

About Peter Bernstein

Album Review

Brad Turner Quintet: The Magnificent

Read "The Magnificent" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 11, 2023

If the title of Canadian trumpeter Brad Turner's latest album, The Magnificent, sounds a trifle self-absorbed, rest assured it does not refer to him but to another “magnificent" horn player, the late Thad Jones. The honorific, however, would not be unwisely used if applied to Turner himself, who not only excels on the trumpet but also plays tasteful piano and wrote every one of the album's generally engaging themes. Although the group is listed on the album ...

Album Review

Brad Turner Quintet: The Magnificent

Read "The Magnificent" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 23, 2023

Brad Turner's album The Magnificent is a sonic gem on which he invites listeners on a musical journey which effortlessly balances tradition and innovation. Comprising a wish-list of stellar musicians, including guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Neil Swainson, drummer Quincy Davis and, on four tracks, tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds, the band gathered together to record a session to breathe life into nine Turner compositions. The opening track is “You're OK," in which Turner's trumpet takes center stage ...

Album Review

Benny Benack III: Third Time's The Charm

Read "Third Time's The Charm" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 14, 2023

While it remains to be seen whether rising star Benny Benack III's third album as leader is a charm (that is up to the listener), it is definitely a charmer, with delightful turns by trumpeter (and vocalist) Benack and pianist Emmet Cohen complementing stellar performances by a number of well-known and talented guest artists. This is basically a quintet date (Benack, Cohen, tenor saxophonist Ruben Fox, bassist Russell Hall, drummer Kyle Poole) enriched by star turns along ...

Live Review

Litchfield Jazz Festival 2023

by Paul Reynolds
August 6, 2023

Litchfield Jazz Festival The Frederick Gunn School Washington CT July 28 to July 30, 2023 It's fitting that a festival set in a location as venerable-sounding as the Litchfield Hills deeply respects tradition. That commitment starts with the music styles it presents. While the Litchfield Jazz Festival isn't averse to going beyond musically. For example, in past years, it's presented Vijay Iyer and Jane Bunnett's all-Cuban Maqueque--its 28 years of presentations have displayed a special ...

Album Review

Benny Benack III: Third Time's The Charm

Read "Third Time's The Charm" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 15, 2023

Though the title of this third album from multihyphenate Benny Benack III might imply misfires with his first two go-rounds, the truth really runs contrary to that line of reasoning. One of a Kind (BB3, 2017), while flying under the radar, introduced some listeners to a talent far too large to be contained; and A Lot of Livin' To Do (La Reserve, 2020) proved to be a strong follow-up statement, earning greater attention and acclaim for a dashing leading man ...

Liner Notes

Ryan Kisor: Awakening

by C. Andrew Hovan
June 24, 2023

A man of few words, Ryan Kisor chooses to let his horn do the speaking and obviously it has said volumes over the years when you consider that the trumpeter is one of a select few musicians who has managed to sustain a viable career past the heydays of the jazz renaissance of the '80s and early '90s. Even when given the opportunity to elaborate on his most recent musical endeavors, Kisor states quite simply, “I'm pretty much just doing ...

Album Review

Melvin Rhyne: Boss Organ

by Chris May
November 16, 2022

Originally released on CD on the Criss Cross label in 1993, Hammond B3 organist Melvin Rhyne's Boss Organ is issued here for the first time on vinyl. Spanish archive label Elemental, under license from Criss Cross, has repackaged it as a double LP in a gatefold sleeve on 180-gram audiophile vinyl. It is a blinder. Not because Rhyne deals in surging, heavily amped block chords, a la Jimmy Smith, but because his style is utterly unlike that, ...