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Adrian Cunningham: It's About Time
by Jack Bowers
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." ...
Continue ReadingChristian Sands: Embracing Dawn
by Mike Jurkovic
Way back in the mottled history of the 1950s and '60s, record biz guys in sharkskin might kick down a DJ's door and bark: “You gotta to hear this single!" But who truly listens to and what exactly is a single these days? Add in the disturbing though elusive truth that any single can take any physical or temporal shape and the evidence just points to one thing: First impressions have doomed many a pundit. If ...
Continue ReadingAmina Figarova & Matsiko World Orphan Choir: Suite For Africa
by Dan McClenaghan
Happenstance played a hand in two of pianist Amina Figarova's finest recordings. The first time around it was September Suite (Munich Records, 2005). Though based in the Netherlands at the time, Figarova was staying in New York City when the planes flew into the World Trade Center buildings on September 11th, 2001. The music for the album was her reaction to the event, to the grief and mourning it caused. Heading a superb sextet, she created a beautiful ode to ...
Continue ReadingClarence Penn: Behind the Voice
by Dan Bilawsky
Drummer Clarence Penn, a serious force on the scene for more than three decades, has worked with a who's who of vocalists--Betty Carter, Kandace Springs, Luciana Souza, Kate McGarry, Nellie McKay, Claudia Acuña, Paula Cole, Melissa Walker and Nneena Freelon, to name just a few. He knows more than a thing or two about history and creativity behind the voice, and he's here to show it with this sharply-constructed date. Working with a stacked lineup of singers and instrumentalists, and ...
Continue ReadingLawrence Fields: To the Surface
by Mike Jurkovic
As if chomping at the bit, pianist Lawrence Fields launches into his proper debut as a leader with “Parachute," a tune of his own making that strikes that perfect chord between piano trios past and present. And right away the listener is immersed in To The Surface. A fixture on Rising Star category since 2019, Fields, who has made his name in the piano chair for such determined and willful creators as Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Terri Lyne ...
Continue ReadingChristian Sands: Christmas Stories
by Dave Linn
Early on, Christian Sands had a passion for music. He was enrolled in music classes at age four and wrote his first composition at age five. He started playing professionally at the age of ten and studied at the Center for the Arts in New Haven, Connecticut before receiving his Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. A protégé of Dr. Billy Taylor, Sands released his debut album at the age of 12 and came ...
Continue ReadingEmmet Cohen: Master Legacy Series Volume 5 Featuring Houston Person
by Mike Jurkovic
From its languid beginning, saxophonist Houston Person's own warmly engaging “Why Not?," to its closing, Etta James' slinky seduction “Sunday Kind of Love," Emmet Cohen's Master Legacy Series Vol. 5 Featuring Houston Person is a decidedly laid-back affair, unlike much of its predecessors which featured Jimmy Cobb, Ron Carter, George Coleman, Benny Golson and Albert “Tootie" Heath. Maybe that is just the eighty-eight year old Person's influence. His big tone and big presence fill the studio with a ...
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