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Judy Wexler: No Wonder
by Pierre Giroux
Judy Wexler's release No Wonder is a portrait in vocal jazz artistry, underscored by thoughtful arrangements from pianist and arranger Jeff Colella and a luminous supporting cast of Los Angeles A-list musicians including multi-instrumentalists Danny Janklow, and Bob Sheppard, trumpeter Jay Jennings guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Gabe Davis and drummer Steve Hass. The twelve-tune track list is a refreshingly curated program of standards that steer away from the overly familiar, instead embracing the “hipper" corners of the ...
Continue ReadingJudy Wexler: No Wonder
by Dan Bilawsky
Judy Wexler imbues every song she touches with a sense of realism, wonder and depth that's ever so rare. An inimitable artist, this celebrated singer adds volumes to each story she encounters, be it a post-millennial jazz tune, '60s counterculture anthem, glimmering Brazilian jewel or any number of other finds. In the case of No Wonder--Wexler's seventh album, arriving two decades after her debut--she demonstrates her gifts with a marked emphasis on standards. Longtime collaborator/pianist Jeff Colella's ...
Continue ReadingJudy Wexler: Back to the Garden
by Richard J Salvucci
Man, if you can pick a tougher project to sell to an aging Boomer than Judy Wexler's Back to the Garden, then you will have to say what it might be. For a lot of the Swinging and Breathing Elderly, this music is intensely personal. Not just where were you, or who were you with? But what were you doing? And most of all, why? Not everyone was a protester or a demonstrator, much less a hippie. Not everyone made ...
Continue ReadingJudy Wexler: Back to the Garden
by Nicholas F. Mondello
A glance at the tracks on this album might make one think that it is a well-selected gathering of '60s message tunes from compilation stalwart, Rhino Records. That not being the case, rest assured that Back to the Garden presents those iconic Pop selections so incredibly re- imagined that what we experience could easily be considered “new selections." Judy Wexler--petite in stature, but tremendously talented and agile in artistry--and her cadre of LA's best, delivers her finest performance ...
Continue ReadingMayita Dinos: The Garden Is My Stage
by C. Michael Bailey
Many artists have day jobs to pay the bills, and vocalist Mayita Dinos is no exception. After studying landscape design, and working in the field for “decades," Dinos emerges with a debut jazz vocal recording The Garden is My Stage. But, this is no wet-feet newbie recording. Dinos has been performing as an avocation around her Los Angeles home, including jam sessions hosted by vocalist and composer Cathy Segal-Garcia, who recognised Dinos' potential, taking her under her wing as a ...
Continue ReadingSteve Hass: A World of Rhythms
by R.J. DeLuke
Thirty-two-year-old Steve Hass has been a professional drummer for about a dozen years, adding touches of style and class to music by the likes of The Manhattan Transfer, Art Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Christian McBride, John Benitez, Ravi Coltrane and many others, from pop to hard core jazz and from hip-hop to Latin beats. He’s a percussionist with a smooth style and his pulsating conversations with fellow musicians are interesting and seamless. But it didn’t come just from just formal lessons ...
Continue ReadingDarryl Hall: Subtle Touch
by AAJ Staff
While bassist Darryl Hall is more than a known quantity among the Philadelphia jazz community, he’s starting to record his vision and expand his recognition among the jazz community along the East Coast as well. Winner of the 1995 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition on bass, Hall’s vision is one that is unlike that of many bassists in his style of composition, his choice of instrumentation and his role as a bassist.Maybe “Subtle Touch” is the way to describe ...
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