Home » Jazz Articles » Rob Lockart
Jazz Articles about Rob Lockart
Susan Krebs: Daybreak
by Richard J Salvucci
Sometimes, simpler is better. Familiar chord progressions are like old friends. We think they have aged well, and however different the melody (or their appearance), they are relatable. We connect to and with them. After a spell of “dare to be different" time signatures that can be fun, or challenging, hearing someone who can play or sing well in plain vanilla four can be a relief. After all, most people walk around in two or four. Can 7.9 billion people ...
Continue ReadingThe Susan Krebs Chamber Band: Simple Gifts
by C. Michael Bailey
..."some bluesy piano soloing, hoedown string work, and more." Dan Bilawsky in his AAJ review of Krebs' Simple Gifts Yes, I think nothing of drawing inspiration from my betters on the AAJ staff when stuck on a review. I had reviewed Everything Must Change (GreenGig Music, 2012), finding the release very fine. But Simple Gifts represents a stunning evolution that is different altogether. Here, Krebs dives into the heart of Americana in the same ...
Continue ReadingThe Susan Krebs Chamber Band: Simple Gifts
by Dan Bilawsky
Vocalist Susan Krebs and her musical friends have been putting together thematically-programmed salon concerts in living rooms and small venues for a number of years. Out of that experience comes Simple Gifts, a salon sampler of sorts that gives the at-home listener a taste of the ideas and arrangements that came about through these performances. The first two pieces on the album--"Let's Call A Heart A Heart" and “Looking Back"--originally fell under the banner of Cardiology: Heart ...
Continue ReadingDave Slonaker Big Band: Intrada
by Jack Bowers
Don't be put off by the name. Intrada, composer / arranger Dave Slonaker points out, is “a musical form often composed as a prelude, overture or fanfare," one whose upbeat phrases give rise to an exhilarating curtain-raiser on Slonaker's initial big-band recording. Rest assured this is a world-class ensemble and there's no doubt whose steady hand is at the helm: Slonaker wrote every number save the standard “It's Only a Paper Moon" and arranged the complete package. ...
Continue ReadingRob Lockart: Parallel Lives
by Dan McClenaghan
The problem with saxophonist Rob Lockart's debut CD, Parallel Lives, is that it's hard to get past the opening cut, the America Songbook classic, Arthur Altman's “All Or Nothing At All." It's a problem of the sublime variety--this rendition of the familiar tune is magnificent. Lockart is locked into the emotion of the tune, the aching, sometimes searing uncertainty of the outcome of the ultimatum, the possibility of ending up on the wrong side of the choice to be made.
Continue Reading
