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Dylan Hannan
Rich Willey: Boptism Christmas
by Jack Bowers
With seasonal jazz albums in rather short supply this year, it is a pleasure to welcome Boptism Christmas, a series of mostly well- known holiday tunes ably performed by multi-instrumentalist Rich Willey and his impressive North Carolina-based octet-plus-one. The “plus one" applies to Tracks 5 and 6, on which Russ Wilson joins the ensemble to sing ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer") or play drums ("Little Drummer Boyz"). Wilson sings respectably on a jazzed-up version of “Rudolph," a mega-hit ...
Continue ReadingFlying Horse Big Band: Florida Rays
by Jack Bowers
On its seventh recording, Florida Rays, the University of Central Florida's always dependable Flying Horse Big Band abandons its usual modus operandi—straight-from-the-hip contemporary jazz--to survey music associated with R&B legend (and Florida native) Ray Charles. As Charles, an accomplished musician, was best known as a vocalist, one might anticipate (correctly) that a handful of Charles' progeny would be stopping by to unmask their vocal talents. There are four singers in all: Rob Paparozzi, Vance Villastrigo, DaVonda Simmons and, last but ...
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