Recording News

B.J. Jansen and T.C. The 3rd to Release New Album on ARC

Source: JM Creative
January 4, 2011

B.J. Jansen and T.C. the 3rd have collaborated on a new album featuring the Uptown Jazz Collective on Artists Recording Collective. The new release, She Do What She Do (ARC-2260), features original compositions, standards as well as spoken word performances. Jansen and T.C. have dedicated She Do What She Do to the memories of Trudy Pitts (T.C.'s late Mother), Sid Simmons, Andy McCloud, Charles Fambrough, James Moody, Abbey Lincoln and Dr. Billy Taylor. The album features the musicianship of T.C. ...

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Art Blakey - Hard Bop (Mosaic Singles, 2008)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
January 3, 2011

This was something of a forgotten album (perhaps because of the generic title?) recorded during drummer Art Blakey's brief tenure with Columbia Records. Cut with an interesting band including Bill Hardman on trumpet, Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Sam Dockery on piano and Spanky De Brest on bass. But the album is aptly named as the the band swings through a long set of soulful and swinging hard bop, cut on December 12 & 13, 1956. Hardman and McLean make ...

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Gimme Five: 80's Fusion Albums That Don't Suck

Source: Something Else!
January 3, 2011

The late Don Grolnick made only one fusion record, but it was a real beaut. By Pico Ahhh, the 80s. Big hair, big synthesizer sounds and programmed beats. That didn't just happen with pop and rock, some of these trends seeped into contemporary jazz, too. This was the decade when much of what was considered fusion had morphed into “smooth jazz." In spite of these trends, some fusion retained some of the toughness and creativity of the prior decade. To ...

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Groove Notes Top 10 Jazz CD's of 2010

Source: Groove Notes
January 3, 2011

People love lists. And Groove Notes isn't shy about posting them. There were some great albums that came out in the last year, and in no particular order, here are my ten favorites from 2010.

1.

Highway Rider by Brad Mehldau (Nonesuch, March 16, 2010) CLICK HERE TO BUY

2.

Decisive Steps by Tia Fuller (Mack Avenue, March 16, 2010) CLICK HERE TO BUY

3.

Jasmine by Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden (ECM Records, May 25th, 2010) CLICK HERE TO BUY

4. ...

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Melvin Gibbs presents Phree-dem Download 7: Osétura

Source: Melvin Gibbs
January 3, 2011

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John Carter - Bobby Bradford Quartet - Seeking (Hatart 1969, 2001)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
January 2, 2011

Clarinetist and saxophonist John Carter and trumpeter Bobby Bradford led an excellent free-bop band in the vein of Ornette Coleman's pianoless quartet during the late 60's and 70's. Much of this material has been released on a recent Mosaic Select but this review comes from a HatArt reissue of this early album I found in the used bin at the Princeton Record Exchange. Joined by Tom Williamson on bass and Bruz Freeman on drums, the band called themselves The New ...

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David Cook - Pathway (2010)

Source: Something Else!
January 2, 2011

By Pico David Cook is a recent addition to the burgeoning young talent that's filling up the roster at Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records, and like his new labelmates, this pianist comes to BJU Records with an abundance of experience. Already, he's worked with Lizz Wright, Donny McCaslin, Dennis Chambers, John Ellis, Matt Wilson and even big-time pop stars like Justin Timberlake (speaking of pop, Mr. Cook is not to be confused with the American Idol winner of the same name). ...

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Do You Speak Bix? (Andy Schumm and His Bixologists at Whitley Bay 2010)

Source: Jazz Lives by Michael Steinman
January 2, 2011

The title is not as fanciful as it seems. Bix Beiderbecke lived in and created his own world, much as Lester Young did—and it had its own private musical language. Think of the special break on SOMEBODY STOLE MY GAL, the modulation into the vocal on SUNDAY, and more. So when a group of musicians get together to play the Bix-and-Tram repertoire, it's especially rewarding when they know all the curves in the road and share all the musical in-jokes. ...

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