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Sam Skelton
Karla Harris: Merge
by Neil Duggan
With the release of Merge, Karla Harris' fifth album, the vocalist refines her sophisticated blend of traditional and contemporary jazz. She follows the time-honored jazz tradition of reimagining familiar standards, complemented by three original compositions that showcase her strength as a songwriter. What distinguishes Merge beyond Harris' superb vocal artistry is the creative space afforded to her collaborators to explore, improvise and weave their individual voices into the arrangements. Those arrangements, created by Harris and co-producer/pianist Tyrone Jackson, ...
Continue ReadingRandy Hoexter: Tomorrowsville
by Jack Bowers
Several words spring to mind when listening to the music of Atlanta-based composer, arranger and pianist Randy Hoexter. Colorful is one, wide-ranging is another. Not to mention creative, robust and well-ordered. Each of those traits and more are deftly combined in Hoexter's latest album, Tomorrowsville, on which he leads a high-grade ensemble through its paces on eleven of his intriguing themes and charts. What is clear from the outset is that Hoexter is a talented and earnest ...
Continue ReadingProfessor Aucoin & the Jazz Scientists: Mystified
by Jack Bowers
There is a heap of soul, blues, rock, funk and heart on Professor Tim Aucoin's album, Mystified. On the other hand, the jazz content is in rather short supply. The Jazz Scientists are good at what they do, but what they do is more akin to a nightclub act than a jazz performance, at times reminiscent of Sam Butera and the Witnesses but without the luminous personas of Louis Prima and Keely Smith to raise them above the norm. Aucoin ...
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Music
The Dragonfly (feat. Mike Stern)
From: TomorrowsvilleBy Sam Skelton
Simply Smooth
From: Simply SmoothBy Sam Skelton
