Jazz Articles about Willie Jones III

Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love

by Michael Caratti
September 5, 2007

This debut outing from Roberta Gambarini sees the Italian-born jazz vocalist pair up with two star-studded rhythm sections and legendary tenor saxophonist James Moody, to present what has to be one of the best vocal jazz albums of the decade.

Opening with Cole Porter's classic title track Gambarini's exquisite tone and masterful rhythmic phrasing are immediately on display in the first a capella section. The gradual addition of bass and brushes does little to prepare you for what happens next, ...

Willie Jones III: Volume III

by Russ Musto
December 30, 2006

Drummers aren't well-known for leading trio dates with piano and bass accompaniment--Roy Haynes the notable exception--but Willie Jones III is not your typical drummer. Jones, who cut his chops on the West Coast in the cooperative group Black/Note and recorded with Horace Silver's quintet, made a name for himself in New York as a member of Roy Hargrove's band, playing with a deep-grooving swing that belied his youth.

On his first two dates as a leader, Straight Swingin' (2001) and ...

Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love

by Suzanne Lorge
August 10, 2006

If Roberta Gambarini had chosen to pursue opera we might be seeing her at the Met instead of in the world's top jazz clubs, so exquisite is the natural lyricism of her voice and her technical mastery of its use. Absent from her performance are the blatant shifts in registration, dicey intonation, and questionable diction that are often stereotypically associated -- rightly or wrongly -- with jazz singing. But a jazz singer Gambarini is, and a fantastic one at that.

Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love

by Victor L. Schermer
July 4, 2006

I first heard vocalist Roberta Gambarini perform a few years ago at the Jazz Standard in New York, soon after she arrived in America from Italy. It was clear even then that she had star potential and, as expected, she has now begun to take her place among the jazz greats, with nowhere to go but over the top. This debut CD is long overdue.Gambarini has thorough command of a pure, clear soprano voice, perfect pitch, and a ...

Roberta Gambarini: Easy To Love

by Roger Crane
June 23, 2006

With all due caution about overstatement, let me say that I don't know of a better pure jazz vocalist than Roberta Gambarini. She shows us all that the art of jazz singing is alive and well. During the past few years she has become almost a cult figure, thrilling live international audiences, becoming the subject of enthusiastic discussions on various internet jazz chat forums, and being hailed by numerous insiders as perhaps today's finest young jazz singer. Gambarini is now ...

Horace Silver: Jazz Has A Sense Of Humor

by John Sharpe
November 1, 1999

Listening to any new release by Horace Silver is a lot like hearing your favourite comedian tell a joke for the umpteenth time—you know the punch line, but you laugh anyway! Since he left Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1956, Silver has written and produced a number of classic tunes that have become jazz standards. Over the years his famous quintets have always featured dynamite trumpet/tenor tandems—Blue Mitchell /Junior Cook, Woody Shaw/Joe Henderson and the Brecker Brothers—and this album is ...