Results for "Alec Wilder"

Alec Wilder

New Reissue Series Offers A First-Class Ticket To Moodsville

by Joshua Weiner
September 22, 2026

With the rise of consumer culture in the 1950s and 1960s, hi-fi systems on which to play newly available stereo records became de rigueur for those who aspired to sophisticated leisure time. A wide variety of “mood music" albums, from classical to exotica to jazz, promised the perfect soundtrack for any emotional state or social gathering. ...

Ben Flocks: Moon and Sand

by Ludovico Granvassu
June 12, 2026

Moonshades--a collection of twelve compositions inspired by the moon--is the third album by Ben Flocks. At a time when, with the Artemis II mission, we seem to be entering a new--and perhaps more ominous--space age, the Los Angeles-based saxophonist prefers to look at the moon the way generations of artists, poets and philosophers have: as a ...

Mark Masters Ensemble: Sam Rivers 100

by Dan McClenaghan
May 26, 2025

The Mark Masters Ensemble released Porgy and Bess Redefined! (Capri Records) in 2005. The music was taken from the George Gershwin/DuBose Heyward English-language opera, which was first performed in 1935. Masters' take on the classic was brilliantly expressed by the ensemble, who dug into his adventurous charts with freedom mixed with respect for the familiar and ...

Richard Baratta: Off The Charts

by Neil Duggan
September 18, 2023

After more than three decades as a Hollywood film producer, drummer Richard Baratta seemed ideally placed to bring together the worlds of film and jazz, releasing two albums focusing on songs from the movies. The first of these, Music In Film: The Reel Deal (Savant Records, 2020) gained a Grammy nomination for pianist Bill O'Connell's arrangement ...

Jeff Ellwood: The Sounds Around The House

by Pierre Giroux
March 8, 2021

As a professional musician hoping to have a meaningful career, hiding one's light under a bushel, may not be the best way to recognizable success. Such might be the case for tenor saxophonist Jeff Ellwood. He may have fallen into the trap evinced by the Dave Frishberg ditty “I Want To Be ...

Mark Murphy

Born: March 14, 1932

The following is based on the book This is Hip: the Life of Mark Murphy by {{m: Peter Jones = 58082}} (Equinox Publishing, 2018). All rights reserved. In the opinion of many, {{m: Mark Murphy = 9692}} was the greatest jazz singer who ever lived. Quite a statement, but one that can be made to stand up pretty well in court. There have, of course, been more successful jazz singers; certainly more popular jazz singers. But not one of them has possessed the sheer range of abilities that Murphy was blessed with. He had a natural “instrument” at his disposal, a rich, masculine tone that could shape any jazz standard as beautifully as you were ever likely to hear it

Brian Carpenter’s Ghost Train Orchestra: Book Of Rhapsodies Vol. II

by Luca Casarotti
June 27, 2018

Nel 2006 il compositore, arrangiatore e polistrumentista Brian Carpenter ha fondato a Brooklyn la Gost Train Orchestra, con la quale si è adoperato per recuperare e dare nuova vita ad alcuni momenti non molto frequentati del jazz delle origini. Questo Book of Rhapsodies Vol. 2 (il vol. 1 è del 2013) è il quarto disco dell'ensemble: ...

Brian Carpenter’s Ghost Train Orchestra: Book Of Rhapsodies Vol. II

by Jerome Wilson
October 9, 2017

There have been several ensembles in the past couple of decades that delved into the novelty jazz recordings of the Thirties and Forties. In the Netherlands there have been The Beau Hunks and the Willem Breuker Kollektief and in this country there have been Don Byron's Bug Music group and Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra.

Mark Sullivan’s Best Releases of 2015

by Mark Sullivan
December 11, 2015

This is my first year end list as an AAJ contributor, hopefully the first of many! I reviewed a lot of great music, major label and independent productions alike. Here's the ten that rose to the top of my list of favorites, in no particular order. Eberhard Weber Hommage à Eberhard ...