From the Inside Out
Color Red Records: A Label, Sound, and Vision
by Chris M. Slawecki
When Eddie Roberts, leader of The New Mastersounds, moved to Denver, Colorado, in 2015, he discovered a local music scene that contributed to his vision for a new type of music organization: a label that would be more than a label, producing and releasing music that would be more than (good) music--music that would establish a label-specific sound. Roberts took the long road to Color Red Music headquarters on Colorado Boulevard in Denver. Born in Wales, he left ...
read moreBeyond Classical: Divine Hand Explores “Aria 51”
by Chris M. Slawecki
In the early 1920s, musician and physicist Lev Terman invented an electronic proximity alarm, which shrieked louder and higher noise when something (or someone) moved closer to its antenna, as a motion detector for the Russian penal system. A concert cellist and physicist, Terman (Leon Theremin) realized that intervals of that sliding sound theoretically corresponded to musical notes, and began fine-tuning his prison alarm into a musical instrument. A 1922 demonstration so impressed Vladimir Lenin that the Soviet ...
read moreFreaks in Mayberry & the Boney Oscar Stomp
by Chris M. Slawecki
Giuseppe Paradiso & Meridian 71 Parallel Dimensions Ubuntu Music 2022 Parallel Dimensions steers the listener's imagination through a luxurious multicultural tapestry woven in music by drummer, vocalist, composer, arranger and producer Giuseppe Paradiso and his sextet. It explores broad musical horizons that can sound radiantly bright or dark, often features several instrumental or melodic voices at the same time, and is strongly colored and shaped by African rhythms. Parallel Dimensions ...
read moreDemons and Wizards, June Bugs and Jakarta
by Chris M. Slawecki
Hermeto Pascoal Planetario Da Gavea Far Out Recordings 2022 Planetario Da Gavea is an enormous, sprawling document from a February 1981 outdoor performance series by Brazilian jazz wizard Hermeto Pascoal recorded under the stars in the Gávea neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, within the dome of the city's outdoor planetário (planetarium). Ten pieces, most never recorded before and several never performed again, stretch across two hours of gloriously ...
read moreBird Songs, Tripping Fantásia, Real Harmony & Klezmer-Hop
by Chris M. Slawecki
Alex Bird & the Jazz Mavericks You Are the Light and the Way Self-Produced 2021 You Are the Light and the Way presents an interesting challenge for a writer. Twelve new songs by Canadian vocalist Alex Bird (lyrics and music) and keyboardist Ewan Farncombe (music and arrangements) consistently sound like new songbook classics"--in several places, as if Harry Connick Jr. magically composed music with Johnny Mercer. Bird, Farncombe and the ...
read moreMonsters from the Jazzlab
by Chris M. Slawecki
Rodrigo Almonte Distancia Odradek Records 2021 Every piece of music on Distancia is an honest representation of a pilgrimage of different distances that I had to walk, musically and geographically speaking, in order to find inspiration and to create a representation of myself as a musical nomad," explains guitarist Rodrigo Almonte, who was born and raised in Peru, completed Bachelor of Arts studies in Ireland and Brazil, and his Masters ...
read moreRediscovery and Re-Creation, and an NYC Farewell
by Chris M. Slawecki
Greg Abate Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron Whaling City Sound 2021 Musicians will sometimes honor another musician who influenced their lives or work with a tribute or memorial recording after that influential musician has passed on. There's an abundance of first-rate music on the double-disc Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron. But the best thing about is that the leader, flutist and saxophonist Greg Abate, convinced Kenny ...
read moreItalian Spirits, Dubé Debuts and Chasing (Mahogany) Frogs
by Chris M. Slawecki
Paul Colombo Group Rio Crystal Vectordisc Records 2020 Rio Crystal is the perfect title for this bright and clear, warm and sunny set led by guitarist Paul Colombo. Its frontline pairs Colombo's nimble guitar with keyboardist Ron Thomas, supported by bassist Andy Alonso and drummer Chris Loser, in a series of jazzy instrumental workouts. It's uncomplicated swing, and the emotional directness and honesty with which the principals play, turn Rio ...
read moreLost Within Jobim, the BOOM, and You
by Chris M. Slawecki
Albare Plays Jobim Vol. 2 Alfi Records 2021 I was 14 when I first heard the music of Tom Jobim," recalls Albare, nom de guerre of guitarist Albert Dadon. I already had six years of guitar learning under my belt. When I first heard those bossa chords, my ears were opened in a whole new way. A musical seed was planted in my brain that would never leave me."
read moreTributes, Tapestries, Trombones and Tempests
by Chris M. Slawecki
Vasko Atanasovski Adrabesa Quartet Phoenix MoonJune Records 2020 Phoenix captures the voice of one of Eastern Europe's most acclaimed and creative musical ensembles, the Adrabesa Quartet founded and led by Slovenian maestro Vasko Atanasovski, and amplifies this unique voice throughout MoonJune Records' global distribution network. Phoenix thus demonstrates that the globalization of jazz hasn't muted the strong, perhaps even essential, regional accents in its overall voice. Founded in ...
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