Recording News

Arend Nijenhuis & Michael Baird 'Twenty Years After'

Source: All About Jazz
September 12, 2009

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Recent Listening: Jessica Williams

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 13, 2009

Jessica Williams, The Art Of The Piano (Origin). Williams' 2800-word liner essay declares renewed and deepened love for the piano and rededicated independence from the strictures and orthodoxies of the music establishment. She cites an internet video clip of Glenn Gould playing Bach as “...a life-altering event" that took her back to “...a music founded on the purity and clarity and infinite tonal colorations of the piano itself." Those are qualities I have never found missing from her work, but ...

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Stanley Clarke Trio:Jazz in the Garden

Source: JamBase
September 12, 2009

By: Trevor Pour

If you don't consider Stanley Clarke one of the top five players in the bass business you don't know Stanley Clarke. It's as simple as that. As one of the preeminent global jazz minds of the last four decades, Clarke has contributed his otherworldly abilities to more albums, projects and tours than most artists could ever hope to glean. From his wildly influential 1976 record School Days to his continued work with fusion giants Return to Forever, ...

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Jimmy Heath: Endurance

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 12, 2009

Speaking of tenor saxophone legends who are still going strong, Jimmy Heath has just released Endurance, a CD co-led with his younger brother, drummer Albert “Tootie" Heath. Endurance features six Heath originals, a composition by pianist Jeb Patton and the standard Autumn in New York. Like James Moody, Heath is a workhorse who continues to tour relentlessly and turn out dynamic, meaningful recordings. From start to finish, this new album is warm, engaging and loaded with sharp ideas by both ...

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Boban I Marko Markovic Release

Source: Michael Ricci
September 12, 2009

Boban i Marko Markovic, Devla: Blown Away to Dancefloor Heaven (Piranha Musik)

Balkan Brass Father/Son Duo at it Again: Digital Release: Oct. 2; Physical Release: Nov. 10

Clad in a suave white suit, it's not impossible to imagine why urban legends credit gypsy trumpet king Boban Markovic with getting his homeland out of a recent jam: Markovic's spit-fire precision is rumored to have so seduced Bill Clinton that the saxophone playing president called off the further NATO bombing of Serbia. ...

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Anne Drummond Releases Debut Album "Like Water" on Obliqsound

Source: Michael Ricci
September 12, 2009

As a female jazz flutist, Anne Drummond is a rarity among rarities. Although the instrument has been utilized in jazz for several decades, it has never been as ubiquitous as the saxophone, trumpet or trombone, and virtually every acknowledged master has been male. That all changes with the September 15th arrival of Like Water (ObliqSound), the debut recording from the artist recently named a Rising Star by DownBeat magazine and featured in a cover story in Flute Talk magazine. Among ...

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Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band Releases "Waiting For the D Train" Single

Source: All About Jazz
September 11, 2009

From Fluxus and performance-art pioneer and Two Virgins to chart-topping dance-music heroine (inspiring punk rock along the way!), Yoko Ono has been an innovative and influential force on music and art, while simultaneously campaigning for peace on the world's stage. At 76 years young, Yoko continues to kick ass -- and is preparing to release Between My Head and the Sky, a career-defining album made with her new Plastic Ono Band. The record is a gorgeous, mind-melting blend of styles, ...

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James Moody: 4A

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 11, 2009

When his tenor saxophone hangs on his chest, James Moody is an entertainer. Years spent working with the best jazz cut-ups has taught him the value of lightening up an audience. So when Moody's on stage between songs, he's revving up his charm and drawing everyone in. But when it's time to work, a transformation takes place in his face. The jovial side disappears and is replaced by a very serious expression that can only be likened to a surgeon ...

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