Recording News

Boots Mussulli: Mable's Fable

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 2, 2012

Boston-based alto and baritone saxophonist Boots Mussulli never quite achieved the kind of poll-winner fame in the 1940s and '50s that Lee Konitz and Art Pepper did. Mussulli had the misfortune of coming up at a time when the alto and baritone saxophone scene was jammed with extraordinary playing-arranging band talent itching to break out in leadership roles. Mussulli instead was most comfortable as a section player, returning to the Boston area in the mid-1950s as an educator for much of ...

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Jimmy Owens - The Monk Project (2012)

Source: Something Else!
January 1, 2012

I was struck, time and again, by the considered, almost slow-motion attention to detail here, as trumpeter Jimmy Owens and Co. tease out every blues-soaked nuance from the oft-heard music of Thelonious Monk. It's easy to focus on the brilliant convolutions of his music, the blind-alley syncopations and the turbulent chord changes. But there was real grit, and no small amount of beauty, to the tortured pianist's work—something that The Monk Project brilliantly underscores. Owens downshifts the familiar boppish standard ...

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Steve Tyrell To Release New Album "I’ll Take Romance" February 7th

Source: Muse Media
January 1, 2012

ON FEBRUARY 7TH STEVE TYRELL RETURNS WITH, I'LL TAKE ROMANCE, JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE'S DAY Collection of Romance Tracks is Grammy Award-Winning Artist's Ninth Album and Concord Records Debut; Tour Features Seven Weeks at New York's Celebrated Café Carlyle as well as Various Dates Across the Country Los Angeles, CA. Often cited as the world's true “romance crooner" and proponent of all things love, legendary jazz balladeer Steve Tyrell will release his new collection, I'll Take Romance on February ...

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Jack DeJohnette Celebrates Landmark Year With "Sound Travels"

Source: All About Jazz
December 31, 2011

Mutidirectional Album Features: Esperanza Spalding, Bruce Hornsby, Bobby Mcferrin, Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Tim Ries, Luisito Quintero & Jason Moran 2012 promises to be a banner year for legend Jack DeJohnette, renowned as one of music's most adventurous artists and prolific drummers. He'll receive a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship, the highest U.S. honor for jazz musicians. The Chicago-born, New York- based artist will also turn 70, boasting a top-drawer historical resume that ranges from his early ...

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The Friday Morning Listen: Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day (1997)

Source: Something Else!
December 31, 2011

I'm one of those people who tend to not remember their dreams. Most mornings, I have a feeling that some dreams have come to pass, but couldn't tell you about any of them in much detail. When I'm particularly tired it's common for me to have a lot of dreams, with the fragments having a little more staying power—just enough so that I can perceive that the dreams took place. When I wake up, it kind of feels like I've ...

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Best NW Jazz CDs

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene
December 31, 2011

Starting with a trickle of albums years ago, there's now a constant stream of excellent CDs by NW Jazz artists each year.

We'll feature some of the best from 2011 on Jazz Northwest this Sunday at 1:00 PM on 88.5 KPLU.

JIM WILKE'S TOP NORTHWEST JAZZ CDs OF 2011

For Pacific Northwest jazz fans in particular, here are some of the exceptional releases from artists living in Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver.

Chuck Deardorf, Transparence (Origin) Thomas Marriott, Human ...

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Bang on a Can Big Birthday Giveaway: Download new double album FREE for first 25 days of 2012

Source: Jensen Artists
December 31, 2011

Bang on a Can celebrates turning 25 with a very special gift: Download the new album for free during the first 25 days of January in exchange for a Bang on a Can memory or photo at bangonacan25.org. Premiere Recordings of Music by LOUIS ANDRIESSEN (with film), DAVID LONGSTRETH (from the Dirty Projectors), CONLON NANCARROW, KATE MOORE, MICHAEL GORDON, DAVID LANG, JULIA WOLFE, and EVAN ZIPORYN New York, NY—The Bang on a Can All-Stars have recorded their first studio album ...

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Jack Reilly - "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall"

Source: AAJ Staff
December 29, 2011

OVERVIEW: When you read the biographies of jazz artists, many relate a common story; musical studies that began with a foundation built on classical training before giving way to jazz. And while a classical influence can still be heard in a number of contemporary musicians, see Brad Mehldau, few actually perform both classical and jazz, and even fewer release a mixed recording of the two genres. I'm not speaking of Third Stream music here (the synthesis of classical and jazz); ...

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