Recording News

Ted Nash's Mancini Project Reaches #1 on the Radio Charts!

Source: All About Jazz
February 11, 2009

Announcing the release of The Mancini Project. Tapping into Mancini's rich legacy as a base for a creative project is a worthy choice in it's own right.

But for tenor saxist Ted Nash it was a personal one. Among jazz's elite growing up in Los Angeles in the 60's and 70's, a time when many would consider the hayday of the film industry's outpouring of original of music by great composers, one being Henry Mancini.

Nash had the good fortune ...

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Pianist/Arranger Bill Cunliffe Revisits a Jazz Classic with "The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2"

Source: All About Jazz
February 11, 2009

With his new album, The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2, pianist Bill Cunliffe doesn’t so much reinvent a modern jazz classic as open it for incisive interpretation. Working with clean, uncluttered arrangements and a stellar cast of improvisers, Cunliffe explores Oliver Nelson's beloved 1961 album for Impulse! And the results are consistently riveting. Putting a personal spin on Nelson’s six original tunes, including the standard “Stolen Moments,” Cunliffe creates a state-of-the-art jazz statement, while contributing two superb compositions ...

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Dred Scott Trio's "Live at the Rockwood Music Hall" is out Now on Ropeadope

Source: Jeff Newelt
February 11, 2009

With his seventh album, jazz pianist Dred Scott and his Trio deliver a hefty helping of the downtown cool that has earned them one of the most fervent followings on the New York jazz scene. Featuring upright bassist and producer Ben Rubin and drummer Tony Mason, Live at the Rockwood Music Hall (Ropeadope), is a two-session masterpiece which documents the trio’s open-ended engagement (three years and counting) at this popular Lower East Side venue. The record includes six Dred Scott ...

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Miles Davis: Miles Ahead (+19)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 11, 2009

My posts last week on Helen Merrill got me thinking about Miles Davis. Like all great jazz musicians, Miles was a fascinating adapter of other artists' playing styles, moods and techniques. His choice of songs, his phrasing and his attack were a synthesis of his own genius and what he enjoyed and thought he could improve upon. The same can be said of the great arranger Gil Evans. [Pictured: Gil Evans and Miles Davis]

The first in a series of ...

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Ben Monder & Bill McHenry Release "Bloom" on BlueMusicGroup.com

Source: All About Jazz
February 11, 2009

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Trumpet Great Claudio Roditi's Love Letter to Brazil

Source: All About Jazz
February 11, 2009

In a unique two-day venture, trumpet/flugelhorn player Claudio Roditi has created Brazilliance x 4, a stunning tribute album to the land he loves, celebrating with colleagues that he’s known and worked with for many years, all of them fellow Brazilians. “How this came about,” Roditi states, “was we had a performance at [Resonance Records owner] George Klabin’s recording studio in Beverly Hills. We played a live concert, which was recorded. The next day we had the opportunity to record again, ...

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Back with a Vengeance: Paul Jackson Jr. Returns to the Spotlight

Source: Great Scott P.R.oductions
February 11, 2009

The soul-jazz guitarists “Lay It Back" streets March 17, title track shipped to radio Its been nearly six years since Paul Jackson Jr. scored a #1 single at contemporary jazz radio with his version of the Motown classic, Its A Shame. Since then youve seen him deploy his chameleon-like guitarisma on American Idol each week and on other national television shows, including the Grammy Awards and the NAACP Image Awards. Hes one of the most recorded guitarists who has literally ...

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Greg Skaff Releases Instrumental Jazz CD "East Harlem Skyline"

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
February 11, 2009

New York, NY-February 9, 2009 - Greg Skaff brings the harmony of life and expertise to every song he creates. Just as they were on his previous release on Zoho Music, Ellington Boulevard, the spirits of guitar and organ trios of the past are honored with the new release East Harlem Skyline. Skaff creates a bevy of tasteful originals while paying tribute to legendary artists such as Strayhorn, Shorter, and modern day alternative performers as Fionna Apple.

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