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Melissa Aldana: 12 Stars
by Mike Jurkovic
Many musicians have chosen their Blue Note moment to reveal themselves as the artist they are or intend to be. So it is not surprising that a young, gifted artist such as Grammy nominee Melissa Aldana, riding a sure, ascendant arc both creatively and professionally, goes big on her Blue Note debut. From the start, 12 Stars is the exact antithesis of the parlance of isolation. It is a confab of equals. Though in her notes the saxophonist ...
Continue ReadingBruce Harris: Soundview
by Pierre Giroux
Cory Weeds, who is the executive producer of Soundview, is also the major domo behind The Cellar Music Group. This Vancouver, B.C. entity is committed to providing black artists with the opportunity to record and showcase their talent under the guidance of well-known trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. This initial release features trumpeter Bruce Harris and provides him with the launch pad to pay tribute to his family and community in the Bronx.Accompanied by pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist David Wong, ...
Continue ReadingPeter Bernstein: What Comes Next
by Paul Rauch
In a world defined by uncertainty, the global jazz community saw an impressive number of important new recordings released during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Most were recorded before the shutdown, and released thereafter. Guitarist Peter Bernstein hit Sear Studios in New York in June 2020, months after the onset of the pandemic, looking for inspiration. He had a hunch that things could work out. Just before the stay-at-home order hit, Bernstein had played with pianist Sullivan Fortner and drummer ...
Continue ReadingAlicia Olatuja: Intuition: Songs From The Minds Of Women
by Angelo Leonardi
È un tributo alla creatività delle donne in generale e delle cantautrici in particolare, questo di Alicia Olatuja, che interpreta composizioni di Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell, Violeta Parra, Sade Adu, Kate Bush e altre. Alicia ne aggiunge di proprie e partecipa come arrangiatrice in un progetto fortemente sentito e condiviso col produttore Kamau Kenyatta, noto per il suo ruolo nel successo di Gregory Porter, e con Ulysses Owens Jr. Alicia Olatuja è una versatile mezzosoprano, maturata ...
Continue ReadingJazzmeia Horn: Love & Liberation
by Ian Patterson
It's a big step for any singer, the move from interpreter of jazz standards to songwriter. And when you've been Grammy-nominated for a debut album of covers, as Jazzmeia Horn was with A Social Call (Prestige, 2017), the temptation must be to carry on in the same vein. Horn, however, clearly has greater ambition, as the eight originals on her follow-up attest. Not that she's thrown the baby out with the bathwater, for swing, blues, bebop, gospel and thrilling vocal ...
Continue ReadingCecile McLorin Salvant: The Window
by Chris Mosey
Cécile McLorin Salvant has one of the most powerful voices in jazz. Which doesn't make her always easy to listen to. Sometimes she instills new meaning to an old lyric, other times she tries too hard and goes over the top. Still, at least she tries. She comes from Miami, daughter of a Haitian father and a French mother. Aware of the power of her voice from an early age, she trained in classical music, but then ...
Continue ReadingCecile McLorin Salvant: Dreams and Daggers
by Angelo Leonardi
È un disco importante questo di Cécile McLorin Salvant. Il disco della piena maturità, quello che segna la consacrazione della giovane vocalist nell'olimpo del canto jazz. Dopo tre lavori in studio (l'ultimo dei quali vincitore di un Grammy) Cécile dimostra con questo doppio live di non essere solo la voce afro-americana più avvincente del presente ma un'artista che porta avanti la discendenza delle grandi interpreti. In lei ritroviamo la grazia, la leggerezza e la perfetta intonazione di Ella Fitzgerald, la ...
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