Jazz Articles about Various Artists

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Various Artists: Blue Wave 15th Anniversary Collection

by Ed Kopp
April 1, 2000

With the possible exceptions of Boston and Providence, there aren't many cities in the Northeast as blues crazy as Syracuse, N.Y. Despite being a relatively small outpost of 730,000 residents, the Syracuse area is home to two big-time summer blues festivals and over 50 working blues bands, including several that are nationally acclaimed. The area has developed a regional blues sound similar to Chicago's but with more of a rock 'n roll edge. (Syracusans need to keep on rocking just ...

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Various Artists: Organ-ized

by John Sharpe
March 1, 2000

The mighty sound of the Hammond B-3 can be heard on countless jazz, R&B, gospel and soul classics. Years ago the synthesizer managed to relegate many B-3’s to church basements as the new electronic marvel was much lighter, cheaper and sounded almost as good as the original. Today the acid jazz revival has spurred the re-emergence of the B-3 as the instrument of choice for all pop/jazz/soul keyboardists. Organ-ized is a funky, 13-track collection featuring organists both young and old. ...

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Various Artists: Encores, Legends, & Paradox, A Tribute to the Music of ELP

by AAJ Staff
March 1, 2000

If there was some form of progressive CD release recognition like Prog-Grammy or the “Gilded ELP Award” gala event, this tribute album would surely have easily earned “Best of . . .”, “Best Tribute”, “Most Artist . . .”, and “People’s Choice . . .”, etc., etc. It is warming to this old progger heart to hear so many talented artists paying homage to one of the foundational giants of the progressive rock genre. For those who have never heard ...

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Various Artists: Viva CuBop: Jazz The Afro-Cuban Way

by Jim Santella
March 1, 2000

Initiated five years ago and dedicated solely to issuing Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz, CuBop now has over 30 releases in its catalog. Their sampler, a full hour and twenty minutes, represents items from the past as well as the near future. The spicy contribution from Columbus, Ohio’s Afro-Rican Ensemble made its way to the compilation directly from a demo. At the other end of the spectrum, the Har You Percussion Group was formed by the Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited program ...

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Various Artists: J-Curve Cincinnati Jazz Collection Volume II

by Jim Santella
February 1, 2000

Recorded one year after volume one, J-Curve’s second Cincinnati jazz sampler matches the high quality of musicianship and free, swinging attitude of the earlier adventure. Its Midwestern United States location makes Cincinnati an unusual candidate for one who has provided a century of hot jazz. However, three features stand out to allow fair competition between New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, Cincinnati and a few others: (1) the city lies geographically at a point where travelling bands would ...

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Various Artists: Feeling Sentimental

by Jim Santella
January 1, 2000

These twelve easy pieces from previous Concord albums (1978-1997) provide a cross section of spiritual charm and tasteful accompaniment. Karrin Allyson caresses a lyric accompanied by Randy Weinstein’s soulful harmonica and Rod Fleeman’s sensitive acoustic guitar melody. Guitarist Jeff Linsky offers a gentle ballad from his 1996 album California accompanied by the soft-spoken wordless vocals of Claudia Villea and a small expressive ensemble. Rosemary Clooney’s lamenting ballad is supported by pianist John Oddo, bassist Michael Moore and drummer Joe Cocuzzo ...

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Various Artists: This is Smooth Jazz

by Robert Spencer
December 1, 1999

Yet another stellar smoothie collection from Instinct Jazz brings you the silky sounds of Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright, Brian Bromberg, and more. This is the music of smooth evenings with young ladies like the one on the cover of this disc, and, smooth fans, glass and babies' bottoms never had it so good.

A minor quibble, that does not detract from the velvet danceable sheen of this music: this collection comes with helpful profiles of each of the artists, but ...