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Marc Van Wageningen
Bill Ortiz: Points of View

by Nicholas F. Mondello
Long associated with Carlos Santana, with whom he had a 16-year stint, trumpeter Bill Ortiz steps into the spotlight here with an auspicious and highly entertaining session. Ten selections showcase Ortiz who is supported by some of the Bay area's best. The order of the day is energy, excitement, and an overall superb show. Sunburst," an Eddie Henderson tune, launches things with a pulsing piano, driving bass, textured rhythms and Ortiz wailing, first using a Harmon mute ...
Continue ReadingYvonne Flores: Sheer Bliss

by Edward Blanco
The debut album from Bay Area vocalist and composer Yvonne Flores, Sheer Bliss is musical magic from a wonderful singer armed with a sensuous voice and is sure to grab critical attention. The album contains seven original sand two standards in an offering of contemporary jazz and pop with a touch of the Latin and Brazilian flavors. Flores draws upon the talents of eighteen players with several heavy hitters among them. Latin jazz guitarist and producer of this ...
Continue ReadingRay Obiedo: Latin Jazz Project Vol. 2

by Richard J Salvucci
Sometimes it is difficult to banish the words of Ecclesiastes from your mind when listening to a recording: There is no new thing under the Sun." While that may be true of music in particular--one builds on the past, just as in other fields--it is no good reason for not listening or for simple indifference. Gerald Wilson's Viva Tirado" has been around since the 1970s, and Wilson himself has been quoted as being once surprised by hearing the El Chicano ...
Continue ReadingRay Obiedo: Latin Jazz Project Vol. 2

by Pierre Giroux
There is a train of thought which proposes that the beginnings of the modern Latin jazz movement originated with the co-mingling of mambo and bebop. Although there is no empirical evidence to support this proposition, the uptake of the Latin style by boppers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Herbie Mann gives some credence to the notion. The music presented by guitarist Ray Obiedo in Latin Jazz Project Vol. 2, while grounded in the Latin jazz construct, is delivered ...
Continue ReadingTower of Power: 50 Years of Funk and Soul

by John Pietaro
In the realm of power funk and jazz-rock, Tower of Power was an original voice, one carved from a unique place within an exceptionally heady moment. And this convergence of forces, clearly, has yet to cool some 53 years hence. Horns? They've carried up to six at a time, to hell with diminished door splits. A big band of scorching funk, Tower of Power traces its roots to 1968 Oakland, where it flourished in a thicket of sound ...
Continue ReadingThe music community helps its own

Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
One of the latest instances involves West Coast bassist Marc van Wageningen. He and drummer David Garibaldi were injured severely on January 12 when struck by an Amtrak train while were walking to a Tower of Power performance at Yoshi’s in Oakland CA. Marc VW, a 30-year fixture on the Bay Area’s jazz, funk and Latin music scene, has been subbing in the funk band since 2002. He was the most seriously injured of the pair. He underwent surgery to ...
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