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Jazz Articles about Reg Schwager
The Schwager/Oliver Quintet: Senza Reza
by Edward Blanco
Canada became the first country beyond the USA to have developed its own vibrant jazz scene. What do major jazz artists like Oscar Peterson, Maynard Ferguson, Gil Evans, Rob McConnell and Diana Krall have in common? They're all Canadians, like the players of The Schwagger/Oliver Quintet presenting their debut on Senza Resa, an Italian phrase meaning No Surrender," which conveys the approach to the music from five of Canada's most exciting award-winning jazz musicians. The album represents the ...
read moreRichard Whiteman: Very Well & Good
by Edward Blanco
One of the finest jazz musicians on the Canadian jazz scene, Toronto-based pianist / bassist Richard Whiteman lays down what he considers, perhaps, his best recording to date on the audacious Very Well & Good. A long established pianist for decades, Whiteman picked up the double bass in 2004 and has not put it down since. On this sparkling album the pianist performs on the double bass, leaving the keys to Amanda Tosoff, and presents nine of his best compositions ...
read moreDave Young Quartet: Ides Of March
by Mark Corroto
Maybe the finest compliment you can bestow on an individual in our COVID-19 times is that he/she is a solid citizen, someone who takes it upon themselves to protect others from the dangers of this horrible virus. What does this have to do with the music of bassist/bandleader Dave Young? First, it is fundamental that all great jazz is built upon the foundation of a timekeeping bassist. Second, as evidenced by Young's Ides Of March, his solid hand upon the ...
read moreMario Romano: The Journey So Far
by Edward Blanco
Argentinian-born, Canadian-based pianist Mario Romano delivers his fourth album as leader with The Journey So Far, essentially a compilation project that takes tracks from previously recorded albums and presents them in new light. A successful real-estate developer with a strong musical background, Romano spent most of his life building a business career and after achieving uncommon success, returned to jazz after 2010. He has since become an integral part of the Canadian jazz scene and has created a high-profile with ...
read morePeter Campbell: Old Flames Never Die
by Dan Bilawsky
There's a square peg, round hole" problem holding vocalist Peter Campbell back in the renown department. He doesn't fall into the resounding soul-stirrer category, à la Gregory Porter, the bop poet-philosopher niche, ruled by Kurt Elling, the pure experimentalist's camp, typified by Theo Bleckmann, the neo-soul realm, occupied by José James, the group-minded singer-songwriter space(s), elevated by artists like New York Voices' Peter Eldridge, or any number of other fairly clear-cut categories. The world of male vocalists is, perhaps, the ...
read moreAl Muirhead's Canadian Quintet: Undertones
by Dan McClenaghan
Swing was the thing, until alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and pianist Bud Powell helped give birth to bebop, and alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman set jazz free. Not that swing ever went away, it just got bumped into the back seat. So when Confirmation" and Dance of the Infidels" wailed on the dashboard radio, Johnny Hodges' alto sax sang sweet notes out of one of the back windows, Lester Young blowing them out the other. But ...
read moreReg Schwager & Don Thompson: Live At Mezzetta
by Jerry D'Souza
One of the joys of listening to music is to come upon an album that crystallizes the essence of a song. Reg Schwager and Don Thompson bring that trait to a fulfillment that suffuses the soul with its warmth and elegant beauty. That they do so is not surprising. They have been working together for several years and entwine musically in quiet eloquence, living each moment, breathing new life into every one.
This album came about by ...
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