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New Releases from Fresh Sound New Talent
by Mark F. Turner
2005 was another stellar year for jazz music, with many fine recordings from both mainstream and independent labels. Here are just a few more of this year's recent releases from the extensive and growing Fresh Sound New Talent catalog.
Unexpected Plays The Blues In Need Fresh Sound New Talent 2005
It is said that to effectively play the blues one needs to know the blues. This may or my not be the ...
Continue ReadingTales of Zimbabwe
by AAJ Staff
Various Artists Tales of Zimbabwe Sheer Sound 2005
It's deeply ironic that a country like Zimbabwe, which has been in the iron grip of an evil dictator essentially since independence, could be such fertile musical territory. The answer to that riddle, of course, is that there was music in Zimbabwe before Mugabe, before Rhodesia. Back in the days before the place was a colony, the mbira (thumb piano) was an essential instrument ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas
by Woodrow Wilkins
Christmas often brings out the best in people. That certainly applies to David Benoit and the artists he assembled for 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas. With fresh takes on several Vince Guaraldi compositions that appeared on the animated Peanuts television series, as well as some traditional holiday offerings, this collection of twelve songs is an ideal recording to share with music lovers. Benoit, who produced the album, is joined by several smooth jazz and R&B artists. But don't let ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert
by Sandy Ingham
An extraordinary hurricane benefit concert took place at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on September 17, just two weeks after Katrina washed away much of New Orleans. The five-hour show brought together a dazzling array of jazz and pop stars, and notables from stage and screen who recited tributes to the birthplace of jazz and urged Americans to give generously and to make sure their government fixes the levees and helps the city revive.
“Higher Ground” was broadcast ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: Our New Orleans 2005
by AAJ Staff
One of the best and most tragic ways we have to know how much something matters is to go through the experience of having it taken away. To the people of lowland New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina was the end of a way of life. To the people of the United States, New Orleans herself winked out for just a millisecond or two. Just long enough to really scare people in this country and remind at least some of them that ...
Continue ReadingVision Festival Vol. 3 CD/DVD/Book
by Eyal Hareuveni
Various Artists Vision Vol. 3 (CD + DVD) Arts for Art / AUM Fidelity 2005
Regretfully, the first decade of New York's Vision Festival has not been documented properly--at least officially (any proficient web surfer can download many live audience recordings from each year of the festival). So far only three volumes have attempted to bring a glimpse of this unique gathering of the free jazz tribe--the limited edition Vision One: Vision ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: Doo Wop: Vocal Group Greats
by Charlie B. Dahan
Shout Factory has again released a companion boxset to a PBS special scheduled for December, this time dealing with the golden era of doo-wop music. The founders of Shout Factory (the brothers Foos) released a similar boxed collection of doo wop in an earlier incarnation at Rhino to critical and consumer acclaim, and they hit the same mark this time around by collecting and documenting this aurally pleasing and satisfying era in American music. The collection contains ...
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