Jazz Articles

Horace Silver: The Hard Bop Grandpop

by Marc Davis
June 25, 2014

With musicians, and artists generally, there's a tendency to think the best work is the earliest. It's usually true. Paul McCartney was never better than when he recorded with the Beatles. Chuck Berry's best work was the early hits like “Johnny B. Goode" and “Roll Over Beethoven." Tom Wolfe hasn't written anything as good as “The Right Stuff" and “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." So it is, too, with jazz musicians. Dizzy Gillespie's seminal work came ...

Dave Grusin: Now Playing: Movie Themes - Solo Piano

by David Rickert
September 11, 2004

Successful film music is designed to enhance rather than dominate a scene, and thus many soundtrack albums, when removed from the context of the movie, are little more than nice background music. However, Grusin, a talented and well-known composer of film scores, has created new interpretation of some of the themes from his past work, many of which stand quite well on their own.

Although Grusin has jazz chops, many of his works borrow ideas from other genres, ...

George Benson: Irreplaceable

by Brian Soergel
August 2, 2004

The title is ironic now, since this CD was originally to be a collection of all vocal tracks, but the singer/guitarist dropped three songs on the early version and included two songs produced by Paul Brown, “Arizona Sunrise" and “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," the latter of which is quickly climbing the smooth jazz charts. Also added was “Take You Out," an instrumental cover of a Luther Vandross song produced by Rex Rideout and Bud Harner that's also included ...

Dave Grusin: Now Playing

by Mark Sabbatini
July 22, 2004

Pianist Dave Grusin built much of his reputation composing and playing scores for movies like On Golden Pond during the 1970s and '80s. His latest album is, depending on your point of view, either a trip down memory lane or another round of milking the cash cow.

Now Playing features fifteen solo performances of scores by Grusin, who in his linear notes refers to the challenges of arranging the pieces since they were generally written for orchestras. ...

Paul Brown: Upfront

by Brian Soergel
April 13, 2004

You probably should have seen this coming, but it’s still somewhat of a surprise. When the king of smooth jazz producers decides to make an album, you figure it’s a vanity project. But what you get instead is one of 2004’s early surprises, top-to-bottom smooth jazz stunner brimming with bright melodies, good picking by Brown on the guitar and enough hits to fill a Christmas stocking.

More than any other producer in his genre, Brown defines what makes a hit. ...

David Benoit: Here

by AAJ Staff
January 25, 2003

For his barely posthumous second tribute to long-time friend and inspiration Charles Schulz, pianist David Benoit gathers the talents of Christian McBride, Peter Erskine, producer Tommy LiPuma--and (through the wonders of technology) the late originator Vince Guiraldi--taking the famous “Peanuts" scores in authentic but subtly new directions.

Though Guiraldi himself contributes to his famous “Linus and Lucy Theme," which opens the album as it opened so many ears to his music, Benoit takes the Brown baton from ...

Count Basie: Swingsation

by AAJ Staff
January 20, 2003

Known for his wide and wild orchestral arrangements, William “Count" Basie also demonstrates a calmer, more concentrated attitude on this first volume of GRP’s new “Swingsation" series (which also features classic collections of Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmie Lunceford and Lionel Hampton, among others). From a liliting take on Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose" (featuring sax man Lester Young, trumpeter Buck Clayton and a taste of “Tea For Two") and a restrained romp through Basie’s own “One O’Clock Jump," to an appropriately-titled “Blue ...

Gerald Albright: Groovology

by Mike Perciaccante
August 1, 2002

Saxophonist extraordinaire Gerald Albright is back with his smooth grooves, hence the name of this, his ninth album. Chock full of passionate, fresh tracks and hooks that grab the listener and don't let go, Groovology delivers on every level.

Albright has brought in a top-flight roster of sidemen who bring on the funk, and the R&B and, of course, some of the coolest jazz. There are some fine offerings on this CD. “Old School Jam" and the title ...

Marc Antoine: Cruisin'

by Philip Songa
December 1, 2001

Consider his name and you'll most likely guess that he is French. Listen to his music and you'd be forgiven for mistaking him to be Latin American. This mystery man is French jazz guitar man Marc Antoine (not to be confused with Puerto Rican crooner Marc Anthony). I was introduced to the sound of Marc Antoine via his collaboration with Dave Koz on the song “You Are Me, I Am You" from Koz's album The Dance (1999).

A year later ...

Kombo: Cookin' Out

by Dave Hughes
July 1, 2001

Keyboardist Ron Pedley and guitarist Jon Pondel are back with their sophomore release under their latest collaborative name, Kombo, called Cookin’ Out. If you’re unfamiliar with these names, Pedley and Pondel used to be in a band with drummer Bud Harner (who, by the way, produced this CD) and bassist Marc Levine called Uncle Festive. They were also the core of Barry Manilow’s touring band for several years, although this trivia really gives no indication of their own style. Uncle ...