Recording News

Karl Seglem - Norskjazz.No (2010)

Source: Something Else!
April 13, 2010

By PicoJan Gabarek. There, I had to get that out of way right off. A Norwegian saxophone player who skillfully blends jazz with folk music of his homeland...who else would come to mind so quickly? Probably no one. But to be fair to tenor saxophonist Karl Seglem, he's worked hard to build his own legacy and NORSKjazz.no, out stateside on this day, is his twenty-fifth album. Thus, I'm going to assess this record without saying “it sounds like ...

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Disc of the Day: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Source: Between the Grooves with Philip Booth
April 13, 2010

I've had the opportunity to catch Sharon Jones twice in concert--at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa, and last year at Jazz Fest in New Orleans--and both times she blew down the doors.

Below is my review of her latest CD, published recently in Las Vegas City Life.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings I Learned the Hard Way (Daptone)

Twiddling the knobs on an AM radio time machine--who needs ...

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Stephan Crump - Reclamation (Sunnyside)

Source: Master of a Small House
April 13, 2010

Echoing the ancient cross-textual applications of its namesake, Stephan Crump's Rosetta Trio is something of a departure in contemporary jazz: A string ensemble that translates the chamber connotations of its instrumentation into a strong rhythmic versatility more endemic to American folk forms. Crump leads the group from a position of quiet authority on double bass. Guitarists Liberty Ellman and David Fox assume equal footing at the flanks, the first fretting acoustic strings while the second picks electric. Their first outing ...

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Nnenna Freelon to Release New Record

Source: On Target Media Group
April 13, 2010

Next week, Concord Jazz will release Homefree, the highly anticipated new album from esteemed jazz vocalist and multi-Grammy nominee, Nnenna Freelon. Homefree is a collection of contemporary interpretations of classic American Songbook tunes as well as a new poignant original, “Cell Phone Blues" composed by Nnenna, and spirited arrangements of two anthems (the gospel treasure “Lift Every Voice and Sing" and the national hymn “America the Beautiful") that close the album. Homefree, ...

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Jake Hertzog Releases New CD "Patterns" This Month

Source: Michael Ricci
April 13, 2010

Guitar Player Magazine is calling him “...the blazing wunderkind." The Boston Phoenix has declared him “...the WOW! factor." Award-winning jazz guitarist and composer Jake Hertzog is making it big in New York City. Jake's debut album, Chromatosphere, continues to bring him critical acclaim, including a five-page interview in Guitar Player Magazine (June 2009), highlighting his unique technique and approach to modern jazz guitar. Both albums, recorded and produced by Grammy Award-winner Joshua Paul Thompson, feature some of New York's top ...

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Footsteps in Africa Remix: The Power of Nomads and the Desert

Source: Michael Ricci
April 13, 2010

The Body's Hum, the Desert's Joy: Footsteps in Africa Soundtrack: Nomadic Remix Brings Nomad Freedom to the Dancefloor and Water to the Sahara

There's a sound you hear in the desert, a hum that can only be felt in the deepest silence. It is the high tone of vibrating nerves, the rush of blood in the veins. It's the ultimate beat, the dance of the body itself.

This sound lies behind filmmaker, producer, and former VJ Kathi von Koerber's three-part ...

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Ari Ambrose and Stephen Riley - Tenor Treats Two (Steeplechase)

Source: Master of a Small House
April 13, 2010

Resuming right where its companion volume left off, this disc delivers another stimulating hour-plus colloquy between its co-leaders. Tenorist Ari Ambrose gets top billing on the tray card, but it's very much an affair of equals, onset to finish. Stephen Riley is the more overtly mercurial and idiosyncratic of the two frontline partners. His lushly-conceived tone and phrasing are instantly recognizable, a post-millennial alloy of Lester Young disciples running from Don Byas through Teo Macero to Warne Marsh an on ...

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Fred Hersch to Release "Whirl" on Palmetto Records

Source: Michael Ricci
April 12, 2010

"Hersch's music--luxurious, free-flowing, unashamedly gorgeous jazz--is idiosyncratically, unmistakably a creation of his own," David Hajdu wrote in a recent, riveting New York Times Magazine profile on Hersch's music and life. The piece detailed Hersch's recovery from a harrowing, near-death health battle, placed him in the forefront of contemporary, innovative jazz artists, and chronicled his influence on many of today's brightest young musicians. Whirl is Hersch's first recording since undergoing intense physical therapy and achieving full recuperation. “One of the small ...

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