Jazz Articles about Willie Jones III

like 17

Houston Person: Live in Paris

by Jack Bowers
November 17, 2021

The greatest jazz musicians have one trait in common; they make everything sound so ridiculously easy that listeners are liable to lose sight of the blood, sweat and tears which brought them to that pinnacle. Tenor saxophonist Houston Person, an octogenarian who keeps sidestepping every obstacle including Father Time, is one such master; regardless of groove or tempo, he seems perfectly at home, never letting an audience see him sweat, even on flag-wavers such as “Lester Leaps In," one of ...

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The Caribbean Tinge: Live from Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola

by Steve Bryant
July 29, 2014

Ever since the jazz was created in the clubs and dancehalls of New Orleans, there was always a significant influence from the Caribbean region, specifically from Cuba. The island, which was just a ferry ride from the port city, had such a significant effect on the development of the music that Jelly Roll Morton always spoke of the importance of Afro-Cuban based rhythms (the Spanish Tinge) in creating and performing this nascent music. However, it was the arrival of a ...

like 189

Suzanne Pittson: Out of the Hub: The Music of Freddie Hubbard

by Wilbert Sostre
March 11, 2011

The vocalese and scatting tradition is alive and well in singer Suzanne Pittson. With Out of the Hub: The Music of Freddie Hubbard, Pittson continues to establish herself as one of the best singers on today's jazz scene. Out of the Hub includes tunes written by or associated with trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard, with Pittson writing or co-writing five lyrics, which Hubbard approved just three months before his passing in 2008. To honor Hubbard, Pittson recruited ...

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Stevie Holland: Before Love Has Gone

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 2, 2008

L'ascolto di Stevie Holland mentre interpreta standard famosi oltre a due canzoni di Gary William Friedman (autore pure di tutti gli arrangiamenti) e “Riverboat Gambler" di Carly Simon fa dimenticare tutto quello che avviene intorno. Poi al secondo ascolto si riesce a focalizzare sull'alto livello di produzione, della perfetta incisione e di come tutte le note, sue e dei musicisti, siano al posto giusto. Mica poco. La Holland scrive nelle ricche note di copertina che questo disco è pieno di ...

like 215

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, ...

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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 ...

like 171

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.