Jazz Articles about Rickey Woodard

About Rickey Woodard

Album Review

Doug MacDonald and the L.A. All-Star Octet: Overtones

Read "Overtones" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 23, 2022

Doug MacDonald's mind is as active as his fingers. The Los Angeles-based guitarist divides his time between writing and playing, and he writes as well as he plays, which is impeccably. Overtones, on which he leads an All-Star Octet (we checked, and all-star is precisely the proper term), is MacDonald's fourth album in the last year or so and twentieth-plus over-all. As is generally the case, most of the songs are his (seven of eight), and they are consistently bright ...

Album Review

Jackie Ryan: Listen Here

Read "Listen Here" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
February 25, 2013

There exists an intersection point in a vocal recording where four elements coalesce in excellence to produce a superb recording: the vocal, instrumental, material and sonic. Singer Jackie Ryan's Listen Here exists on this very point. AAJ critic Dan Bilawsky addressed the first two elements in his thoughtful review of Listen Here, calling Ryan, “a force of nature" and her instrumental support, “ damn good," observations easily echoed here and not improved upon. The latter pair of elements deserve a ...

Album Review

Jackie Ryan with John Clayton & Friends: Listen Here

Read "Listen Here" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
January 25, 2013

With Listen Here, vocalist Jackie Ryan offers a diverse and delectable array of Great American Songbook and jazz classics, well-known but not regularly-recorded older hits, and superb original selections. Supported by Grammy Award-winning bassist John Clayton and most able friends (including Clayton's son, pianist Gerald, a three-time Grammy nominee), the overall effort soars. It's a tour de force of talent and taste.Ryan's voice is full, highly resonant and eminently inviting. It is also one of subtle shadings. Her ...

Album Review

Jackie Ryan: Listen Here

Read "Listen Here" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
January 3, 2013

Jackie Ryan isn't simply a singer; she's a force of nature. Her voice possesses a weighty power, yet soars with grace and ease. Her ability to transmute into different characters and forms, as dictated by the song, lyrics and style, makes her one in a million and she's managed to parlay that unique gift into project after successful project with some of the best in the business backing her up. This date is no exception. Ryan recruited ...

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Album Review

Marlena Shaw: Live in Tokyo

Read "Live in Tokyo" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
November 13, 2003

The very young 441 Records has a great plan: bringing Sony and JVC Japanese releases to wider audiences... and this one is a corker. But then, so is Marlena Shaw, a fascinating performer who takes absolute (yet warm and friendly) command of every audience lucky enough to see her. This live CD, recorded at the B-flat club in Tokyo in 2002, conveys much of the excitement, but necessarily misses a few crucial aspects: her elementally expressive face and body, her ...