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Roger Kellaway: The Many Open Minds Of Roger Kellaway
by Jack Bowers
Criticize pianist Roger Kellaway? You must be kidding. Describe Roger Kellaway? That's a fair bet and far more advisable. Kellaway, who is eighty years old as this is being written, embodies the boundless exuberance, creative power and impeccable technique of any player half his age, all of which he displays unfailingly on The Many Open Minds of Roger Kellaway, recorded in concert nine years ago at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles and released on Kellaway's eightieth birthday, November 1, ...
read moreRoger Kellaway: The Many Open Minds Of Roger Kellaway
by Dan Bilawsky
There's not a single category that can contain the wit and wonder that is Roger Kellaway. Over the past 60 years he's put his musical stamp on film, television, pop, rock, new age, ballet, and modern classical forms, garnering awards and acclaim wherever his pen and piano work happen to fall. And let's not forget jazz. While Kellaway has played with a laundry list of notables from the aforementioned realms, his jazz résumé is no less impressive. Sonny Rollins, Clark ...
read moreFrank Wess: Magic 201
by Jack Bowers
The cover of the late Frank Wess' final album, Magic 201, closely resembles that of its predecessor, Magic 101--so much so that a reviewer who didn't look closely enough might assume he'd been sent a second copy of the earlier album by mistake. (Oops!) Wess recorded Magic 201 in September 2011, two months after Magic 101 and less than four months before his ninetieth birthday. The format is roughly the same--emphasis on ballads and medium-tempo blues, Wess relying heavily on ...
read moreJeremy Steig: Flute Fever
by Carlo Wolff
Jeremy Steig's astonishing, trailblazing debut finally gets its compact disk due, 50 years after Columbia released it on vinyl. It was also the debut of Denny Zeitlin, a Bay Area psychiatrist whose singularly imaginative jazz moonlighting has resulted in numerous fearless disks over the past five decades. Backed by veterans Ben Riley on drums and Ben Tucker on bass, the fervent Steig and the marginally less impulsive, if no less creative, Zeitlin alternate standards with classics- to-be by Thelonious Monk, ...
read moreFrank Wess: Magic 201
by C. Michael Bailey
IPO Records has become the jazz destination for seasoned jazz veterans. Saxophonist James Moody (1925--2010) recorded his last two releases for the label: Moody 4A (2009) and Moody 4B (2010). Hard on Moody's heels is saxophonist Frank Wess (1922- -2013) who followed his Magic 101 (2013) with the predictable titled Magic 201. Pianist Kenny Barron and drummer Winard Harper hold over from the previous recording, augmented by bassist Rufus Reid and guitarist Russell Malone. Six standards and ...
read moreFrank Wess: Magic 201
by Karl Ackermann
Despite a career that spanned more than half of a century, Frank Wess was not a household name. The flautist/saxophonist spent the 1950s and 60s playing with some of the best known big bands in the U.S. including those of Billy Eckstine, Count Basie and Clark Terry. During that period he was primarily recognized as a flute virtuoso though he played both alto and tenor saxophone at that time as well. Wess shifted his attention more toward the saxophone later ...
read moreFrank Wess: Magic 201
by Dan Bilawsky
What a wonderful coda on an incredible life and career. Saxophonist/Flautist Frank Wess' final recordings--the critically acclaimed Magic 101 (IPO, 2013) and this follow-up, recorded two months after that album--speak to his brilliance and clarity as a melody maker and improviser. His wisdom and elegance come through in every note on both recordings. The titles of both albums rightly mark them as companion pieces and close relatives, so here's how they stack up side-by-side: Both albums favor ...
read moreFrank Wess: Magic 201
by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist Frank Wess was born in 1922. He played in Billy Ecstine's orchestra, after World War II interrupted his burgeoning career, and he played in Count Basie's band from 1953 to 1964. With those early experiences on his resume, the fact that he was a traditionalist in the mode of saxophonists Ben Webster, of Duke Ellington Orchestra fame, and Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young should come as no surprise. Following up his Magic 101 (IPO Recording, 2013), Wess, ...
read moreJeremy Steig: Flute Fever
by Dan McClenaghan
Flute Fever, the 1963 Columbia Records debut by flutist Jeremy Steig, has somehow, until now, avoided release on CD. Thanks to reissue producer Jonathan Horwich, Steig's beautifully remastered and packaged freshman recording is now available. And it's not only Steig's premier as a recording artist, it's also a recording first for pianist Denny Zeitlin, on a quartet that's rounded out by veterans Ben Riley on drums, and Ben Tucker on bass. It's a blowing session--no group rehearsal, just ...
read moreEddie Daniels & Roger Kellaway: Duke at the Roadhouse: Live in Santa Fe
by Hrayr Attarian
For their third collaboration on IPO records, veteran musicians pianist Roger Kellaway and multireed player Eddie Daniels recorded a benefit concert for “Santa Fe Center for Therapeutic Riding." The resulting Duke at the Roadhouse: Live in Santa Fe is a tribute to pianist and composer Duke Ellington comprising eight of his standards and an original a piece by Kellaway and Daniels. This unique and elegant interpretation of Ellington's work is laid back but vibrant, exuberant yet mature. On ...
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