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Various Artists: Tales Of Wonder: A Jazz Celebration Of Stevie
by Kyle Simpler
There aren't many songwriters who have reached a level of success comparable to Stevie Wonder. He is one of the most important figures in American music, and to celebrate his 70th birthday, Posi-Tone records is releasing Tales of Wonder: A Jazz Celebration of Stevie. This compilation, performed by some of the label's excellent roster of musicians, offers a fitting tribute to this legendary artist. Rather than simply offering something of a greatest hits compilation, Tales of Wonder digs into Wonder's ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: Ella 100 Live at the Apollo
by Jim Worsley
To be taken back in time within the scope of a period piece movie has long been a staple. Some journeys feel much more real than others, but the concept is commonplace. Venturing into the past with only the audio of a CD or record is, as they might have said back in 1934, “a whole different kettle of fish." A live audience first laid eyes and ears on this 100th birthday celebration honoring the sensational Ella Fitzgerald (born on ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: Newvelle Muri
by Karl Ackermann
Swiss drummer/percussionist and composer, Stephan Diethelm lived in Zimbabwe for several years and was musically influenced by the African rhythms he heard. He had appeared on four albums when he launched the Muri Series, an ongoing succession of concerts that began in 2002, sometimes called Musig im Pflegidach. Pflegidach is a monastery that dates to the Middle Ages and is home to classical, jazz, world and religious music concerts in this resort town near Zurich. In recent years the Muri ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: New Improvised Music from Buenos Aires
by Mark Corroto
The answer to the musical question: where does improvised music thrive? Everywhere. Have you heard Lebanese trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj's recordings on Al Maslakh Records or free jazz from the Istanbul based unit Konstrukt? All that is required for improvised music to thrive are seeds planted by visiting musicians, or access to a radio. Actually, it is much easier to spread the gospel of free improvisation and free jazz with access to the internet. Consider how difficult it was for Vyacheslav ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: Blues Kings of Baton Rouge
by Jakob Baekgaard
Any musical genre gets its own regional twist, and this is especially the case with the blues. Just think of Chicago blues, Memphis blues and Detroit blues. However, a regional variant that has not been examined sufficiently is the blues of Baton Rouge. This fault is corrected by Blues Kings of Baton Rouge, a 2CD-set curated by blues expert Martin Hawkins, released on Bear Family. The set follows two other major Baton Rouge projects by Hawkins, the definitive ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: The Bakersfield Sound
by Jakob Baekgaard
Think of country music and the city that immediately springs to mind is Nashville, but for a while Bakersfield became a capitol of country music in its own right, and its importance as the originator of the Bakersfield sound is examined in a massive box set from Bear Family Records, The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West 1940-1974, containing 10 CDs and a 224-page book written by Scott B. Bomar with a foreword by Chris Shiflett of the ...
Continue ReadingWoodstock—Back to the Garden: 50th Anniversary Experience
by John Kelman
First things first. For all but the most committed of fans, knowledge of what transpired, how it transpired and when it transpired at the now-legendary 1969 Woodstock Music & Arts Fair has, despite a variety of initial, 25th and 40th Anniversary audio and video releases, been severely limited. As engaging, entertaining and well-constructed as these various snapshots have been of the event dubbed “Three Days of Peace and Music," the variety of releases to date have ranged from absolute truth ...
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