Jazz Articles
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Ann Hampton Callaway: Finding Beauty. Originals. Volume 1
by Richard J Salvucci
"This is my most personal record," Callaway says. “Throughout my career, I've loved singing the great jazz classics and selections from the Great American Songbook, but I've always snuck my original songs on various projects. The pandemic made me think, 'I don't know if I'll live through this, but if I do, what's at the top of my bucket list?' And I realized that I wanted to tell my story and share the deepest part of me. What better way ...
read moreNajee: Savoir Faire
by La-Faithia White
American smooth jazz saxophonist and flautist Najee here confirms his status as one of the most talented performers of his genre. On Savoir Faire fans can delight in Najee's assured playing and his general savoir faire when it comes to delivering a polished product. The album is appropriately titled. “Dr. Dolittle" is a swanky, fun and upbeat track. The horns deliver it super smooth on this one. On “Luna," Najee plays beautifully on the flute; the upbeat track ...
read moreRandy Brecker and Eric Marienthal: Double Dealin'
by Jim Worsley
It can be difficult for two giants to share space without colliding into each other. It alternatively can be a bold mix of dynamic forces. Double Dealin' (Shanachie, 2020) robustly falls into the second category. It took many years for Randy Brecker and Eric Marienthal to finally find the right project to come together on. The long wait is rewarded with energetic performances in this funk and groove extravaganza. The title track kicks the record off with more ...
read moreNajee: Poetry in Motion
by Liz Goodwin
On Najee's 15th studio release, and fourth project for the Shanachie label, the Jamaica Queens, N.Y. native delivers an inviting, feel-good album on which he is joined by such diverse talents as pianist/keyboardist Bobby Lyle, multi-instrumentalist/producer/composer/arranger Barry Eastmond, multi-instrumentalist/composer/producer Jean-Paul “Bluey" Maunick, vocalists Will Downing, Maysa and Eric Roberson, and guitarist Blake Aaron. The multi-reedman's 1986 debut, Najee's Theme (EMI), was reflective of its time--an era when modern R & B grooves with jazzy inflections and rhythmic ambiance ...
read moreSpirit Fingers: Spirit Fingers
by Roger Farbey
This is the debut album and brainchild of leader, pianist and composer Greg Spero, an undeniably gifted pianist and composer who has been mentored by fellow keyboardists and Miles Davis alumni Robert Irving III and Herbie Hancock. The musicians Spero assembled for his project amount to a veritable supergroup in terms of their prodigious talent. The repertoire of Spirit Fingers is clearly informed by the likes of Chick Corea's Return To Forever and John McLaughlin's later works--not coincidentally, since bassist ...
read moreDavid Benoit and Marc Antoine: So Nice!
by Jeff Winbush
There's nothing particularly noteworthy in two established musicians collaborating. It's a tradition in jazz as old as the genre itself, so a pairing of pianist David Benoit and guitarist Marc Antoine is not a seismic event to knock the world off its axis. What we have here is a marvelous meeting of like-minded musicians who are clearing digging dueting with a drum-tight supporting band. Emphasis on the word “band" because bands are a rare beast in contemporary jazz. ...
read morePieces of a Dream: Just Funkin' Around
by Jeff Winbush
It would be the easiest thing to say about the new Pieces of A Dream record, “If you already like Pieces of A Dream, you'll probably like this. If you don't, you won't." That would be real easy. It would also be real accurate. I road-tested Just Funkin' Around with a bunch of 20-somethings I was transporting from home back to college. I put it on and waited. Waited for them to say “Turn it up" or “turn ...
read moreRick Braun: Around The Horn
by Jeff Winbush
There's only so many ways you can go in jazz with the trumpet. Straight ahead and then a sharp left turn into more experimental improvisation paging (Miles Davis), a technically proficient if somewhat rigid traditionalist (Wynton Marsalis) or become a tasty, if unmemorable ingredient in the smooth jazz gumbo (Chuck Mangione). These are the career choices Rick Braun may have faced at one time. He chose to go the path of least resistance and play it safe and ...
read moreJeff Lorber Fusion: Prototype
by Jeff Winbush
Fusion. Is there a dirtier word to the refined ears of the jazz connoisseur? For them the sound of their sacred music mashed up with low-brow rock or common R n' B rhythms must be as harsh and annoying as sharpened nails dragging across a blackboard. Well, suck it up, buttercups, because Prototype is nothing if not Jeff Lorber and his crew of merrymakers rocking and rolling and funkin' it up as bad they wanna be. The core ...
read moreLindsey Webster: Back To Your Heart
by Jeff Winbush
Jazz requires a certain degree of commitment. It's not a genre that gets featured during any of the award shows. Jazz artists don't get to have microphone or wardrobe malfunctions during New Year's Eve progams on live television. Jazz songs don't show up on video games and has largely vanished from film. Even movies which purport to be influenced by jazz (Whiplash, La La Land, Miles Ahead) are long on drama and short on the music itself. As ...
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