Recording News

Gene Estes: Westful

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
December 30, 2010

Don't feel bad if the name Gene Estes doesn't ring a bell. Most jazz listeners aren't familiar with him. Though Estes started his recording career in the mid-'50s bands of Harry James, Billy May, Shorty Rogers and Henry Mancini, he also was an in-demand studio percussionist who wound up on studio recordings by the Monkees (Theme), Beach Boys (Pet Sounds), Frank Zappa (Lumpy Gravy) and many other rock groups of the '60s and '70s. But as Estes' 1976 album Westful: ...

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Legendary Keyboardist Bernie Worrell to Release New Collection of Jazz Standards

Source: Chris M. Slawecki
December 29, 2010

Legendary keyboardist and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Bernie Worrell will release a remarkable new album of jazz standards on March 15, 2011 on Scufflin' Records. The album, titled Bernie Worrell: Standards, features Worrell alongside an all star line up of renowned musicians including Smokey Hormel on guitar, Melvin Gibbs on bass, JT Lewis on drums and Darryl Dixon on saxophone in addition to others.

This is the eighth solo album for Worrell, who was a founding member and ...

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Dan Cavanagh and Dave Hagedorn announce "Horizon"

Source: Dan Cavanagh
December 29, 2010

Dan Cavanagh, piano, and Dave Hagedorn, vibes, announce the release of their CD, Horizon. Cavanagh and Hagedorn debuted their collaboration in 2006 and have since performed to much acclaim throughout the country. The album features several originals and fresh takes on songs from the jazz cannon. Pre-release reviews have lavished praise on the album. Tom Surowicz of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that “their new CD, Horizon, couldn't be much better...sublime...the highest level of intimate musical conversation." Jazz Police's Andrea ...

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Szilard Mezei - February Fadontes (No Business, 2010)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
December 29, 2010

Melding folk music to free jazz in an interesting and intriguing manner, viola player Szilard is joined by Peter Bede on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Erno Hock on bass and Hunor G. Szabo and drums. This is a limited edition vinyl record that really deserves wider recognition especially among fans who enjoy their jazz expanded by different cultural elements. The album begins with “Akkorra/By Then," the lengthy opening medley that takes up side one of the LP. The music is ...

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Miles Davis with Gil Evans - Miles Ahead (1957)

Source: Something Else!
December 29, 2010

By Nick DeRiso Miles Ahead was initially billed by Columbia Records, in the flatly obvious tone of the day, as “Miles Davis plus 19, with Gil Evans." Right. Still, it was that last guy, the 20th man, who was the important one. After a burst of creativity in the late 1940s—the clearest result being the very cool but obviously embryonic Birth of the Cool on Capitol—Evans didn't work with Miles Davis again until the late 1950s. Davis seemed better for ...

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Best of the Best: The Officiala" SomethingElse! Top 10 for 2010

Source: Something Else!
December 29, 2010

By Something Else Reviews Over the last few weeks, this merry band of music lovers has offered its varied take on the Year That Was. Now, we winnow it all down. First to go were the personal obsessions (Mark: Mary Halvorson; Pico: Greg Ward's Fitted Shards), and other worthy entries that somehow didn't gather critical mass (Tom: Field Music; Nick: Neil Young's Le Noise). No, to make The Official SomethingElse! Top 10 for 2010, there had to be two or ...

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If by Yes (Haden and Honda): Salt on Sea Glass

Source: JamBase
December 29, 2010

GUESTS INCLUDE DAVID BYRNE AND NELS CLINE Salt on Sea Glass is the debut album from If By Yes, a collaborative project helmed by two of the most original talents in pop music. Petra Haden, the vocalist behind the groundbreaking vocal projects Imaginaryland and Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out, is known for her inventive harmonies and complex voicings. Yuka Honda's kaleidoscopic audio production methods first came to public attention as a member of Cibo Matto, but she's been ...

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Bud Shank: Windmills of Your Mind

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
December 29, 2010

In the mid-'60s, Bud Shank recorded a string of albums in Los Angeles for World Pacific Jazz that were West Coast attempts to capitalize on rock, pop and the new movie music. These recordings included Michelle, A Spoonful of Jazz, California Dreamin,' Light My Fire, Music from Today's Movies, Magical Mystery and Let It Be. One of the most glorious efforts in this groovy genre was Bud's Windmills of Your Mind (1969). What I love about Bud on these recordings ...

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