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Peter Barshay
Mike Clark & Michael Zilber: Mike Drop
by Paul Rauch
A first encounter with saxophonist Michael Zilber in a live setting leaves a very large impression. Enshrouding the marvelous facility and deeply melodic approach to improvisation is “the sound" which allows the listener to receive the music in a soulful way. When that sound and imagination are driven by the post-bop mastery of drummer Mike Clark, illuminating things can and will take place.Celebrating a ten-year friendship, Zilber and Clark laid down this session in Oakland in 2018 for ...
Continue ReadingZeena Quinn: Going My Way
by Jack Bowers
With so many singers these days competing to tempt the ears of an ever-shrinking jazz audience, success often rests not only on the talents of the vocalist but on the songs he or she chooses to interpret. On Going My Way, San Francisco-based vocalist Zeena Quinn puts her best foot forward on the opening numbers, “Lover" and “So in Love" (it's hard to go astray with Rodgers and Hart or Cole Porter) but it takes her quite a while to ...
Continue ReadingWally Schnalle: The Suit
by Stephen Latessa
"The Suit," drummer Wally Schnalle writes in the liner notes to his new album of the same name, “is simply a metaphor for a myriad of musical constraints such as: idiom, genre, common practice, expectations, bag, style, and convention. Each of these, and more, I find can impose severe limitations on creativity. And so the straight jacket (Suit) image. Seeking to avoid such restraints, Schnalle casts the net far and wide both compositionally and instrumentally on The Suit. Historic jazz ...
Continue ReadingMark Levine and the Latin Tinge: Isla
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
Pianist/educator Mark Levine is a master of straight-ahead Latin jazz. The members of his Latin Tinge quartet all share his orientation towards modern bop, enhanced by a remarkable ability to lay down a pretty mean clave beat. On Isla , the group tackles compositions by Cedar Walton and Kenny Garrett as well as standards of both the Latin and popular songbook variety.On Garrett's “Ain't Nothing But the Blues," the tempo is relaxed and the mood keeps cool. Levine's ...
Continue ReadingMark Levine & The Latin Tinge: Serengeti
by Jim Josselyn
The rhythms of Latin music are some of the most challenging in jazz. To play this music convincingly, mastery of its syncopation, odd groupings, accents, grooves and poly-rhythms are absolutely required, and this is no easy task. On Serengeti, Mark Levine and the Latin Tinge prove not only are they masters of the groove, but tasteful, soulful and inspired players as well.“Cha Cha Cha Para Mi Alma," a charmingly simple number, starts this recording in a relaxed, swinging ...
Continue ReadingPeter Barshay: Pit Of Fashion
by Jim Santella
A century of jazz has brought us many different types of music, which we continue to house under one umbrella. Bassist Peter Barshay represents the central line; however, his album pushes the envelope in various directions. A part of the program is tongue-in-cheek and some of the material catches fire. When you offer smooth jazz, hip bop, and straight-ahead arrangements in the same session you’ve got the ear of many. Barshay’s title track features a sextet line-up. Other songs employ ...
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