Recording News

Trumpeter Evan Weiss Creates Math or Magic

Source: Rolling Thunder PR
June 22, 2011

DON'T MISS THIS STELLAR NEW RELEASE ON INNER CIRCLE MUSIC Composer/trumpeter EVAN WEISS MATH OR MAGIC His Debut CD on Greg Osby's Inner Circle Music Label Chamber Music For Fans of Modern Composition, Neo-Classical, Jazz and Beyond What the press is saying about MATH OR MAGIC: ..."one of the leading lights for the big bands of tomorrow to look up to. Clearly a case of auspicious beginnings, if he does nothing more than run at this speed, he'll always be ...

Continue Reading...

Eric Hofbauer and the Infrared Band - Level (2011)

Source: Something Else!
June 22, 2011

Boston-based guitarist Eric Hofbauer penned the liner notes to his new album out today, Level, beginning it with the testimony that “the music on Level ... explores the human condition using sound to tell stories." He then goes on to explain that the album “offers nine mythology-themed pieces about duality in the universe and in life—two sides trying to find balance." These are pretty metaphysical and abstract concepts he lays on his listeners, but it actually helps in understanding the ...

Continue Reading...

Vicious World - Plays the Music of Rufus Wainwright (2011)

Source: Something Else!
June 22, 2011

Originally named for a Rufus Wainwright song, it was perhaps inevitable that Vicious World would eventually devote an entire album to this underrated contemporary singer-songwriter. That doesn't make the prospect any less daunting, considering the sharp turns and blind alleys associated with Wainwright's deeply idiosyncratic style. But Vicious World, a septet co-led by saxophonist Aaron Irwin and trombonist Matthew McDonald, matches the music's mysterious melodicism with an expanded lineup that also includes lush textures from violinist Eliza Cho and cellist ...

Continue Reading...

Neil Young and the International Harvesters - A Treasure (2011)

Source: Something Else!
June 22, 2011

Time to rethink Neil Young and the 1980s. A Treasure, featuring live songs from a 1984-85 tour with a group of Nashville pros, is the sixth release in Young's ongoing Archives Performance Series—and it shines a spotlight on an often overlooked period between 1979's Rust Never Sleeps and Freedom a decade later. Young tinkered, and sometimes failed, throughout the decade. The throwback country-inflected album he'd constructed prior to these concerts, appropriately titled Old Ways, had just been rejected by his ...

Continue Reading...

Gerald Cleaver: Drummer by Nature

Source: Free Jazz by Stef Gijssels
June 22, 2011

Great drummers tell stories: they are not only the time-keepers or the rhythmic base of the band. Great drummers make the music. Jack DeJohnette is in that category. So is Hamid Drake, so is Eddie Prévost, so is Tom Rainey. And so is Gerald Cleaver. It is extremely difficult to describe music, so I will refrain from describing why Cleaver's quality is exceptional. I can only invite you to listen. Just look at this quick overview of the past few ...

Continue Reading...

The Bo-Keys: Got to Get Back

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 22, 2011

The Bo-Keys know how to set a Memphis groove. They ought to. The band's musicians have been doing it for some time. As I wrote in the Wall Street Journal last week (go here), the band was formed by bassist Scott Bomar in 1998, and the rest of the band's rhythm section are veterans of the Stax and Hi record labels in the '60s and '70s. In addition to Scott, the band features guitarist Charles “Skip" Pitts, drummer Howard Grimes ...

Continue Reading...

Would You Buy This? Sony's 'Complete Albums Collection...'

Source: Digital Music News
June 21, 2011

Can you really sell CDs like this anymore? Well, Sony Music's Legacy Recordings unit is testing the higher-end (and higher-aged) demo once again, this time through a product-heavy 'Complete Albums Collection' series. This is geared towards “serious music fans and enthusiasts," and revolves around discographies—on CD—plus lots of artwork and out-of-print recordings. This is another angle towards the superfan, and first-wave runs include Sam Cooke, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Stan Getz, Return to Forever, and the Byrds.

This is all ...

Continue Reading...

Kim Pensyl and Phil DeGreg's "Melodious Monk"

Source: Michael Ricci
June 21, 2011

Does the world need another recording of the music of Thelonious Monk? Absolutely! And the world will be a better place because of this one. Monk's genius showed through in his brilliant performances, his moods and emotions, but mostly in his timeless compositions. A master of complex musical structures and perfectly placed notes, his work influenced a generation of composers. The collaboration between Kim Pensyl and Phil DeGreg pays tribute to Monk's melodies in this beautiful collection. Pensyl's arrangements are ...

Continue Reading...