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Zahili Gonzalez Zamora: Overcoming
by Andy Crowther
Zahili Zamora's journey from Cuba to Boston via Southeast Asia is reflected in her aptly titled five-track album, Overcoming. A pianist, composer and now educator, she tackles her fears and difficult life experiences head-on in the work, through sound, emotion and rhythm. At 22 Zamora was in a high-calibre all-female band that toured often outside of Cuba, when on a whim the band decided to stay in Canada after performing there. The country offered far more freedom than ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk A Mile In My Shoe
by Steve Plever
A glance through the track list--with covers of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye and two swing-era vocal standards--could give you the wrong impression. Yes, this is a very accessible and soulful album, but it is serious and heartfelt jazz, with Orrin Evans' personal stamp making it work. Blues, soul and gospel sounds share the stage here with swing, straight-ahead and avant-garde influences--no surprise given Evans' decade of playing with the Mingus Big Band. Evans' piano sets the tone ...
Continue ReadingNYO Jazz: Live in Johannesburg
by Jack Bowers
In the summer of 2024, trumpeter/music director Sean Jones and Carnegie Hall's prodigious NYO (National Youth Orchestra) packed their bags and headed overseas for a tour of South Africa, pausing at one of that country's historic landmarks, the Market Theatre, on July 26-28 to present three days of impressive concert performances that thankfully were taped and preserved on this marvelous two-disc compilation, Live in Johannesburg. If these twenty-two young musicians represent any sort of barometer, the future ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk A Mile In My Shoe
by Angelo Leonardi
Il nuovo disco di Orrin Evans e della sua Captain Black Big Band ci ricorda l'importanza delle radici per la comunità musicale afroamericana: il gospel, il blues, le big band, i cantanti e strumentisti storici. Una risorsa che è anche identità collettiva e forza culturale. Come ha sempre fatto in passato, il pianista e bandleader di Philadelphia s'ispira alla tradizione per rinnovarla e arricchirla, con passione e freschezza. Stavolta le orchestrazioni sono funzionali alle interpretazioni di quattro prodigiosi ...
Continue ReadingNancy Erickson Lamont: Through the Passages
by Nicholas F. Mondello
On occasion with so many artists presenting recordings, a reviewer may innocently fall into the trap of bypassing a jewel by an unfamiliar singer. Such was the case here. The subsequent discovery was fortuitous. Seattle-based vocalist and composer, Nancy Erickson Lamont's Through the Passages is a thoroughly fascinating, absorbing 12-original-track session with the artist surrounded by an A-1 crew of the Pacific Northwest's best. It is undoubtedly a pearl of a find. “Tick Tock" opens the date ...
Continue ReadingGrace Kelly with Strings: At the Movies
by Jack Bowers
Saxophonist Grace Kelly, who some years ago graduated from the Child Prodigy class in which she was a prominent member, has entered her third decade by recording for the first time with a string-based orchestra. The theme is At the Movies, and Kelly opens with a James Bond medley and closes with five themes from Walt Disney films. Besides playing soprano, alto, tenor and baritone sax, Kelly further shows her versatility by singing on more than half ...
Continue ReadingClark Gibson: Counterclock
by Pierre Giroux
Saxophonist Clark Gibson's Counterclock demonstrates the synergy that can be generated by an outstanding group of performers, including trumpeter Sean Jones, trombonist Michael Dease, Hammond B-3 organist Pat Bianchi, vibraphonist Nick Mancini and drummer extraordinaire Lewis Nash. While pushing the boundaries, the set list, with one exception, is made up of original compositions by Gibson and Mancini. The opener, “Conflict," captures Gibson's emotive alto saxophone work as he is pushed along by Nash's drumming and Bianchi's ...
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