Videos Recommended by Scott Lichtman

Essentiallly Ellington 2025: Sant Andreu Jazz Band, Round I

Sant Andreu Jazz Band
Duration: 24:31
607 views

Gratitude is due to all the high school/secondary school jazz programs that give teenagers the appreciation and fundamental skills needed to keep our music alive. One international youth group of note is {{m: Sant Andreu Jazz Band = 29110}}, based in Barcelona, Spain. It was founded in 2006 by Mr. {{m: Joan Chamorro = 33376}}. SAJB adeptly cover big band swing, Dixieland, bebop and bossa nova classics including vocal tunes. You'll find clips of them taking their music and joy to the streets. The SAJB has produced musicians of the stature of {{m: Andrea Motis = 33375}}, {{m: Rita Payés = 119593}}, {{m: Èlia Bastida = 139389}} and {{m: Joan Mar Sauqué = 130423}}, all of them with international careers. Here, they participate in the "Essentially Ellington" 2025 youth big band competition, sponsored by Lincoln Center Jazz in New York. Sant Andreu was noted as the first non-US band ever in the competition in the later rounds and was awarded second place. Listen with eyes closed and you may think of them as many do -- as professionals. The first blues runs 3:45, burning all the while.

Twincy Jones

Gudics Twins
Duration: 03:59
1,104 views

The Gudics Twins are a case of 1 plus 1 equaling 3. The Hungary-based duo, consisting of twin brothers Martin on electric bass and Marcell on drums, displays tons of technical proficiency and lock-step synchronization. When you combine this with their writing of muscular, up-tempo grooves, then the duo is simply explosive. Here is their original YouTube duo video, called "Twincy Jones." Listen for the drum rolls integrated across snare, toms and bass drum, and the shift in feel “on a dime” on bass. Their reputation is validated by the many elite jazz-rock, R&B, smooth jazz & classical stars that one or the other brother has performed with, including Frank Gambale, Chieli Minucci, Jesus Molina, Dave Koz and Hauser.

Epilogue

Franz von Chossy
Duration: 05:13
1,718 views

Franz von Chossy is a German-born pianist and composer who has made a name for himself across Europe and beyond, winning first prize at the Dutch Jazz Competition and 2nd prize at the Montreux Solo Piano Competition. His album, Mirror 9 (ZenneZ Records, 2025), takes the listener on a thrilling journey through modern jazz and classical music that’s well worth experiencing from start to finish. The cohering theme is the enneagram, a classification system that organizes human personality traits according to ways of seeing, feeling and being in the world. Orchestrated for sax, violin/guitar, piano, cello, bass and drums, each song on Mirror 9 represents a type of person in the enneagram, such as "the Individualist." Musically speaking, the overall work is riveting, delicately shifting timbre and energy from song-to-song and passage-to-passage. Here we have "Epilogue (Outtake)," suggesting the beauty and mysteries of being alive.

Take Five

Tamsin Dearnley
Duration: 2:31
1,644 views

{{m: Tamsin Dearnley = 166232}} is a standout harpist known for her range of classical and modern popular styles of music, including jazz. Here she plays "Take Five" as a solo piece and makes it sounds native to the harp. Listen and look for: her warm, plucky sound that compares more than favorably with a jazz hollow-body guitar in tone; open voicings and comped rhythms that fill the frequency spectrum; and her adjustment of the sharp/flat levers at the top of the instrument while she’s modulating steadily through the changes, It's a piece worth appreciating by lovers of any instrument. Also search YouTube for her renditions of "Lullaby of Birdland," "Black Coffee," and "Moving House Rag."

Shadow Dance

Jack DeJohnette
Duration: 15:14
2,007 views

Jack DeJohnette was one of the most influential and proficient jazz drummers of all time. He was known especially for his playing with Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett and his own bands and compositions. DeJohnette was named a US National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, the highest honor the United States bestows upon jazz musicians. He passed away on October 26, 2025. Innovative elements of his sound included using the tom-toms as a form of propulsive "ride;" tuning the drums low and in synch so that they strengthened the harmonic role of the kit; and, varying the attack on the cymbals so that they would enrich the feel of hard jazz-rock as well as ballads. Listen to him attack and completely occupy the underlying sonic spectrum of "Shadow Dance," with Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Dave Holland. DeJohnette’s solo kicks off the song, the band groove is introduced at 02:23, and the head comes at 05:10. Although each performer is outrageously talented, when you turn DeJohnette “up to eleven,” his impact on the song’s drive is clear.

Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter & Huntertones Horns

Kurt Elling
Duration: 19:09
1,843 views

Kurt Elling has been called the definitive male jazz singer of the modern era. His abundant technique, including an elastic, four octave range, ample sustain and vibrato, and blurry-fast scatting, is matched by his magnetic relationship with the music and his audience. Elling makes a special impression when he reinterprets pop music classics, including Eddie Money’s "Baby Hold On" in this video. Backed by guitarist Charlie Hunter’s soul band, Elling keeps the funk going non-stop in this four-song set, generating impressive energy for someone born November 2, 1967.

Wichita Lineman

hr-Bigband
Duration: 07:19
1,802 views

There have been so many beautiful jazzy renditions of "Wichita Lineman," composed by Jimmy Webb originally for country artist Glen Campbell. Bob Dylan called the piece "the greatest song ever written." Among the noteworthy covers are recordings pianist Fred Hersch, vocalist Cassandra Wilson, and a trio of Gregoire Maret (harmonica) / Romain Collin (piano) / Bill Frisell (guitar). This reviewer proposes that the most haunting of the jazzy renditions is actually from a large ensemble, the hr-Bigband (a.k.a. the Frankfurt Radio Big Band), featuring the renowned Kate McGarry and Theo Bleckmann on vocals. It opens with a thoughtful guitar solo over the most distinctive feeling in the song--a steady pulse of overlapping long notes, bouncing back and forth between the brass and winds. Kudos to arranger John Hollenbeck, whose commissioned work here shines a spotlight on the talents of the Frankfurt big band.