Jazz Articles about Wycliffe Gordon

About Wycliffe Gordon

Album Review

Orlando, Florida-reared vocalist-pianist Kelly Green boasts one of the most distinctive styles in modern jazz, combining unique approaches to both the piano and the voice to create a satisfying, pleasurable experience for the listener. Green approaches each song as if she has a story to tell, emphasizing lyricism as much as range, but with the melodic approach of a pianist. Green, therefore, naturally emphasizes musicianship on her sixth album, Eat Your Greens. A substantial, and impressive, group of ...

Album Review

Eli Howell: Steps Taken

Read "Steps Taken" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 4, 2026

Picture this: Having assembled a supporting cast, finalized the playlist and booked a studio, you are ready to make the debut recording as leader of your own ensemble, only to learn that, hours earlier, said studio in East Lansing, Michigan, had been devastated by a tornado. That is exactly what happened to trombonist Eli Howell in May 2025. Fortunately, thanks to some quick thinking and deft maneuvering by album producer Michael Dease and others, a room was found at Howell's ...

Radio & Podcasts

Holiday Music by CCJO, Wycliffe Gordon, Judy Whitmore, Jeremy Pelt, and more

by Benjamin Boddie
December 19, 2025

Today's Music--Right Now! Christmas Holiday music by CCJO, Kevin Brown, Wycliffe Gordon, Deb Bowman, Judy Whitmore, Wayne Wilkinson, Jeremy Pelt, Vanessa Perea, Oivia Van Goor, Darius de Haas, Christian Wiggs, Joey DeFrancesco, Christian Sands, Ann Kittredge, Kurt Elling, Jeff Hamilton, Jazz Orchestra, James Judson, Rodney Whitaker, Bill Cunliffe, Rob McConnell And the Boss Brass, Romero Lubambo & Pamela Driggs, George Kahn, Sarah Partridge, Warren Wolf, Judith Owen, and more. Playlist CCJO (Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra) “Everybody Digs Flowers" ...

Album Review

Wycliffe Gordon: Holiday Fun!

Read "Holiday Fun!" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 2, 2025

Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon takes listeners on a pleasurable trip to his childhood and invites them to summon their own precious memories of Holiday Fun! on this splendid new seasonal recording from Arbors Jazz. Gordon has enlisted an all-star ensemble of like-minded musicians and friends to heighten the fun, stepping merrily through a litany of holiday favorites from “Winter Wonderland" to “Frosty the Snowman," “Silent Night" to “Joy to the World," before closing with the venerable “Auld Lang ...

Album Review

Deborah Silver: Deborah Silver with the Count Basie Orchestra: Basie Rocks!

Read "Deborah Silver with the Count Basie Orchestra: Basie Rocks!" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 19, 2025

Basie Rocks! A great idea? One best left on the cutting-room floor? Or perhaps a little of both? There are reasonable arguments to be made on all sides of the equation. On the one hand, this is the one and only Count Basie Orchestra, swinging in its own exceptional way. On the other, the orchestra has joined forces on every number with Mississippi-bred pop-rock singer Deborah Silver, the latest in a series of acclaimed guest vocalists that includes Ella Fitzgerald, ...

Album Review

Deborah Silver: Deborah Silver with the Count Basie Orchestra: Basie Rocks!

Read "Deborah Silver with the Count Basie Orchestra: Basie Rocks!" reviewed by Kyle Simpler

by Kyle Simpler
June 6, 2025

Jazz musicians frequently cover popular songs, but few do it quite like vocalist Deborah Silver. With Basie Rocks!, Silver teams up with the iconic Count Basie Orchestra for a genre-crossing collection that you truly have to hear to believe. This is a groove-charged big band album that reimagines classic rock and pop classics through the swinging lens of traditional jazz. While that premise might sound gimmicky on paper, the result is total sonic satisfaction. Produced by ...

Album Review

Adrian Cunningham: It's About Time

Read "It's About Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 9, 2025

Australian-born, New York-based multi-instrumentalist (and vocalist) Adrian Cunningham brings impressive creds to his latest recording, It's About Time, raising the number of albums under his leadership well into double figures. And as if playing an array of instruments were not enough, Cunningham also writes, having composed nine of the album's songs and arranged all of them. The exceptions are George Gershwin's “Summertime" (from the folk opera Porgy and Bess) and the traditional “Battle Hymn of the Republic." ...