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David 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 ...
Rick 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 ...
Lindsey 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 ...
Jazz Funk Soul (Loeb, Harp & Lorber): More Serious Business
by Jeff Winbush
Let's get two things out of the way first. First thing is Jazz Funk Soul is an awful name for a band. It sounds like the way records were categorized in a record store back in the Dark Ages when such things as record stores existed. Second thing is the second Jazz Funk Soul joint, More ...
Eric Marienthal and Chuck Loeb: Bridges
by Jeff Winbush
What happens when the guy manning the guitar seat in Fourplay meets up with the erstwhile sax guy for the Jeff Lorber Fusion? More than what you might expect. In fact, Eric Marienthal (the sax guy) and Chuck Loeb (the guitar guy) both defy and go beyond expectations on the surprisingly eclectic and entertaining Bridges. Marienthal ...
James Lloyd: Here We Go!
by Jeff Winbush
Solo albums from a member of a longtime band are usually driven by one of two impulses. Either the material is something which doesn't quite fit the group's sound or it is dipping a toe in the pool to test the waters for splitting from the band. Along with drummer Curtis Harmon, keyboardist James Lloyd has ...
Brian Simpson: Just What You Need
by Jeff Winbush
The raison d'être behind Brian Simpson's Just What You Need is not as audacious as to reshape jazz as we know it, but to provide some easy listening while we're waiting. The ambitions here are a bit more modest as Simpson, who is best known as Dave Koz's bandleader, brings together an accomplished crew of studio ...
Najee: The Smooth Side of Soul
by Jeff Winbush
It's hard to remember, but there was a time when jazz used to be played in clubs where the audience didn't simply sit in their seats listening attentively and applauding politely; they even got up and danced to the music. Jazz you can dance to? That seems almost as foreign as listening to large round black ...
Luna Stage Fusion Festival in West Orange, NJ -- July 28 & 29
West Orange, NJ: Luna Stage initiates a new tradition in the Valley Arts District when it brings electric jazz and big band rock to its stages for the last weekend in July. Fans of arena rock, bebop, big bands and jam bands are all welcome to join some of New York’s busiest studio musicians, composers, and ...
Patti Austin: Sound Advice
by Jeff Winbush
Sound Advice is Patti Austin's first pure pop album in ten years and, as a vocalist, Austin has always moved easily between genres. Austin excels when she's paired with a producer who can bring out her strengths and the material matches her ability. The Real Me (Qwest, 1988) was an example, where the singer and the ...