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The Birdland Big Band: Storybook: The Music of Mark Miller
by Jack Bowers
Storybook, the third recording by the New York City-based Birdland Big Band, is subtitled “the music of Mark Miller" and is designed to showcase compositions and arrangements by that multi-talented artist who doubles (triples) as the band's lead trombonist. Miller wrote or co-wrote half of the album's 10 colorful and impressive numbers (11 if one counts Joaquin Rodrigo's brief “Concerto de Aranjuez," which serves as an introduction to Chick Corea's “Spain") and arranged all of them. Miller's ...
Continue ReadingJoe Farnsworth, Snorre Kirk, Alex Sipiagin, Tom Gershwin and more
by Benjamin Boddie
Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Joe Farnsworth, Sam Dillon, Etienne Charles, Tyreek McDole, Cory Weeds, Jimmy Greene, Snorre Kirk, Ryan Keberle, Mike Freeman, Brandee Younger, Michael Dease, Alex Sipiagin, Steve Allee, Vladimir Kostadinovic, Lauren Henderson, Mark Winkler, Gregory Tardy, Tom Gershwin, Tyler Henderson, Jim Witzel, Jonathan Moritz, Airmen Of Note, Art Hirahara, and more. Playlist Joe Farnsworth “Continuance" from The Big Room (Smoke Sessions) 00:00 Sam Dillon “No Promises" from My Ideal (Cellar Music Group) 06:18 Etienne ...
Continue ReadingSam Dillon: My Ideal
by Jack Bowers
Any impartial assessment of My Ideal, Sam Dillon's second album for Cellar Music (following 2018's Out in the Open), should leave no doubt that the New York-born and based tenor saxophonist has definitely hit his stride, punctuating an already strong and persuasive voice on the horn with ample self-confidence and and a bounteous wellspring of innovative concepts and ingenious phrases. In other words, Dillon is the whole package, swinging in the same league as such heralded contemporaries ...
Continue ReadingThe Irv Grossman Sextet: Sound Advice
by Pierre Giroux
Trumpeter Irv Grossman has assembled a stellar sextet that delivers a compelling session of straight-ahead jazz steeped in tradition and camaraderie under the title of Sound Advice. Surrounding himself with a dream team of musicians, including tenor saxophonist Sam Dillon, alto saxophonist Andrew Gould and, on several tracks, trombonist Jimmy O'Connell. The horns are supported by an unflagging rhythm section of pianist David Hazeltine, bassist Todd Coolman and the irrepressible Billy Drummond on drums. The album's repertoire consists of charts ...
Continue ReadingVanessa Racci: Jazzy Italian
by Richard J Salvucci
Vanessa Racci describes herself a jazz / cabaret singer of Italian-American descent with a passion for retro jazz and music made famous by Italian Americans. She has a previous album, entitled Italiana Fresca (2017, self-produced), and currently performs several shows that celebrate American jazz composers, Italian American music and contributions to jazz and pop in the US. She is a competent and entertaining singer, lively, and, by the video evidence, vivacious. She may not exactly lead a listener to forget ...
Continue ReadingMichael Davis - Hip-Bone Big Band: Open City
by Jerome Wilson
Michael Davis is an accomplished trombonist who has had a long career of live and studio work accompanying a varied roster of big-name jazz and rock talents such as The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bob Mintzer, Buddy Rich, Paul Simon, and Sarah Vaughan. He is also an established solo artist and composer who leads an imposing large ensemble, the Hip-Bone Big Band. The big band's second album is an exuberant affair which reflects the joy of getting back ...
Continue ReadingJoe Chambers: Moving Pictures Orchestra: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
by John Kelman
It's one thing to have an established `place in the jazz pantheon, another to continue redefining that position, long after others might be content to rest on their laurels. Joe Chambers' work behind the drum kit with artists including Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Mingus, and McCoy Tyner has already ensured a prominent place in jazz history. His output as a leader may be small, but he's delivered two outstanding Savant recordings in 2006's The Outlaw ...
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