Recording News

Michael Bisio - Travel Music (Self-Published, 2011) ****

Source: Free Jazz by Stef Gijssels
March 1, 2011

By Stef A cold rainey night, with small snow flakes falling hesitatingly from the sky, and the best remedy for warming you up is this intimate solo bass album by Michael Bisio. I have written plenty of reviews of music with the bassist as part of the band, or even as leader of the band, but to my knowledge this is his first solo album. It is intimate, remarkably so, yet even on the arco pieces, which tend to be ...

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Piano, Piano, Piano

Source: Free Jazz by Stef Gijssels
March 1, 2011

David Arner Trio—Porgy & Bess (CIMP, 2011) **** A little over a year ago, I was quite excited about David Arner's piano trio with Michael Bisio and Jay Rosen, called “Out In The Open." The same trio released “Porgy/Bess, Act 1" and now “Porgy/Bess Act 2," also on CIMP. The trio's take on the Gershwin classic is everything you could expect from Arner's light and precise touch, combined with an adventurous and abstract spirit. I must admit that I am ...

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Scott Fields, Matthias Schubert - Minaret Minuets (Clean Feed, 2111) ****

Source: Free Jazz by Stef Gijssels
March 1, 2011

By Paul Acquaro There is a great deal of space for electric guitarist Scott Fields and tenor saxophonist Matthias Schubert to fill on this recent duo outing. Clean Feed offers this description on their site: “In the Minaret Minuets system there are two separate but equal branches: the electric guitar and the tenor saxophone. Composer slash instrumentalists—those roles smear—Scott Fields and Matthias Schubert find myriad methods to blend and contrast, to appear to be at one moment a larger ensemble ...

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Oluyemi Thomas, Sirone, Michael Wimberley - Beneath Tones Floor (Nobusiness, 2010) ****

Source: Free Jazz by Stef Gijssels
March 1, 2011

By Stef So far, I have only reviewed one CD, Nigeria, by saxophonist Oluyemi Thomas, and I praised it for its poetic power.That I have not reviewed many albums by him has more to do with his limited number of recordings than with the quality of his playing. Thomas, wo plays bass clarinet, flute, soprano, musette and percussion on this album is joined by the late Sirone on bass and Michael Wimberly on drums. As on “Nigeria," the poetic power ...

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Shorty Rogers: Portrait of Shorty

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 1, 2011

As modern as Stan Kenton was in 1950, he wasn't modern enough for Shorty Rogers. Rogers, like many members of Kenton's band at the time, was a big fan of Count Basie and his orchestra's dynamic ability to swing hard. While Kenton was obsessed with modern classical music in 1950, Rogers and others like Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Shelly Manne and Bob Cooper wanted a hipper sound that merged the blues feel and swing of the East Coast with the ...

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Frank Macchia's Booga Booga Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Source: Frank Macchia
March 1, 2011

Jazz composer/arranger/saxophonist Frank Macchia celebrates the 30th anniversary of his first album project “Frank Macchia's Booga-Booga" by offering the music from the original album from 1981 for the first time as a digital download, available for sale at CDBaby, iTunes and Amazon.com. This band was comprised of some of Boston's best young musicians from 1981, including Frank on saxophones, flutes, and clarinets, Mike Peipman on trumpet and flugelhorn, Rob Waterfield on trumpet and flugelhorn, Rick Walsh on trombone, Michael Hatfield ...

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"Ray Charles Live in Concert" Captures the Genius at the Height of His Crossover Powers in 1964

Source: conqueroo
March 1, 2011

First CD release of the acclaimed live concert recording In the half-century between his earliest recordings in the 1950s and his death in 2004, Ray Charles ascended to icon status by leaving his mark on virtually every form of American popular music that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. Nowhere was this more evident than in his live performances, where one was likely to hear shades of blues, soul, R&B, jazz, gospel, country, and more in a ...

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East Coast pianist Betty Liste interprets timeless masterworks of Cole Porter, Miles Davis, and others on second album

Source: Lauren Rogers
March 1, 2011

Pianist Betty Liste continues her explorations of American pop standards with her second album, Jazz Ventures (Pure Communications). Liste interprets the timeless masterworks of Cole Porter, Miles Davis, and Antonio Carlos Jobim, among others, with youthful exuberance, emotional depth, and impressive skill.

Liste's selection of covers reveals the dazzling range of her playing, from the percolating Latin stomp of Thelonious Monk's “Well, You Needn't" to the breathtaking swing of “East of the Sun" to the moving romanticism of “I Fall ...

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