Recording News

One Track Mind: Bruce Cockburn, "Pacing the Cage" (1996)

Source: Something Else!
April 6, 2011

By Tom Johnson Some people just have a gift for the odd twist of phrase that makes a song mean so much more than just a bunch of words or even just a mood. Bruce Cockburn, the Canadian sorta-Christian singer/songwriter is one such guy, and in “Pacing The Cage," from 1996's beautiful The Charity Of Night, he takes what could be a simple it's-hard-being-a-musician story and turns it into something everyone can identify with. There may be lines like “I ...

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On April 12, 2011 - Motéma Music will release Rufus Reid's - "Hues of a Different Blue"

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
April 6, 2011

The Brilliant Follow Up to Out Front (2010, Motema Music)

Featuring the Out Front Trio of Reid, Steve Allee (piano) & Duduka Da Fonseca (drums), with very special guests, legendary saxophonist Bobby Watson, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, saxophonist J.D. Allen & master Brazilian composer/guitarist Toninho Horta

As an artist, Rufus Reid defines evolution and growth.  On the double bass, he seems to have reached the pinnacle of mastery on his instrument only to push the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic envelope further ...

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Lovano Flies High! (Flock to the Dakota Tonight)

Source: JazzINK by Andrea Canter
April 6, 2011

It's been two years since Joe Lovano launched his firecracker quintet, Us Five, releasing one of the top CDs of the year, Folk Art. Initial appeals of the ensemble were the unusual 2-drum format and the presence of soon-to-be-Grammy-upstart Esperanza Spalding on bass. Although she rejoins Us Five in the recording studio and some tour stops, bass duties have pretty much been reassigned to young Peter Slavov. And on the current tour, Francisco Mela has yielded one trapset to veteran ...

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New Naxos Recording of Wuorinen's Chamber Music

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
April 6, 2011

Naxos has done a fine job producing and making available at budget prices state-of-the-art recordings of modern American composers in an extended series of individual volumes. The music of Charles Wuorinen is a good example. By my count the CD up for discussion today is at least the fifth one released, and it's a good one. Chamber Music (Naxos 8.559694) covers three works from the past decade, all getting their world-premier recording, and one classic work from 1971, the First ...

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Ralph Bowen - Power Play (Posi-Tone, 2011)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
April 6, 2011

Saxophonist Ralph Bowen has carved out a fine niche for himself on the mainstream jazz scene as an educator at Rutgers University, and as a recording artist (BTW, back when the Library where I work had money I actually booked him for a concert!) This is a fine mainstream jazz hard-bop recording where Bowen is performing with Orrin Evans on piano, Kenny Davis on bass and Donald Edwards on drums. They open the album with “K.D.'s Blues" which has a ...

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Ike Turner - Here and Now (2001)

Source: Something Else!
April 6, 2011

By Derrick Lord This was just what Ike Turner fans had been waiting for. The Clarksdale, Mississippi native returned to his roots with a barrel-house style blues recording that brought him back as a force on the music scene, earning two W.C. Handy Awards from the Blues Foundation for best traditional blues album and comeback album of the year in 2002. This edition of his Kings of Rhythm band sounded tight and Ike picked right back up where he left ...

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Mary Halvorson and Jessica Pavone - Thin Air (2009)

Source: Something Else!
April 6, 2011

By Mark Saleski Tom Waits is a mysterious fellow. I mean, how much do we really know about him? Given the erudite nature of his music, I suppose we know enough. Oh sure, we've all heard the stories. Drivin' the kids on the field trip to the music store in that tank of an Oldsmobile... and not getting any recognition from the staff. Drivin' to the dump in that tank of an Oldmobile and getting recognized by the employees. Even ...

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Drew Paralic - Roll with It, Baby (2011)

Source: Something Else!
April 6, 2011

By Nick DeRiso Drew Paralic is that most unusual of things, a jazz pianist and composer who has released an album of originals played by others. Having taken up the instrument too late, he says, to approach the mastery of deeply appreciated influences like Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk, Paralic instead decided to focus on writing and arranging music. Paralic authored or collaborated on each of the 12 tracks that make up his new release Roll With It, Baby, and ...

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