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Results for "Andrew Velez"
Eric Reed: Stand!
by Andrew Velez
This eighteenth release by pianist Eric Reed is a spiritual melding of gospel and jazz idioms. Though not yet 40, Reed has accumulated considerable mileage. He was with Gerald Wilson at a mere 16, enjoyed a long association with Wynton Marsalis, and displayed a marked flair for the American Songbook. This outing offers ...
Marlene VerPlanck: Once There Was A Moon
by Andrew Velez
Marlene VerPlanck is a singing canary of the old- fashioned sort--one who consistently picks great songs and then sings them in a brightly chirping soprano so that every single lyric is quite intelligible. The songs come out radiating an aura of a singer in love with what she's doing. Maybe that all ought to be commonplace ...
David Sanborn: Here & Gone
by Andrew Velez
Alto saxophonist/flutist David Sanborn has been associated with everything from electronica, fusion and disco-tinged recordings to Svengali (Atlantic, 1973), a now-classic set he recorded with Gil Evans. Although he's acknowledged as having been influenced by Hank Crawford, Charlie Parker and Jackie McLean, he's not easily categorizable. Other musical partners have been as diverse as Billy Butterfield ...
Ken Peplowski / Jesper Thilo: Happy Together - Live At Birdland Volume One
by Andrew Velez
Ken Peplowski and Jesper Thilo have much more in common than the solid expertise of each on both tenor saxophone and clarinet as demonstrated here. The two effortlessly and authentically bring the Swing Era to vibrant life anew. With “Peps," who began his professional career with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, one has only to hear the ...
Eliane Elias: Bossa Nova Stories
by Andrew Velez
I thought I never needed to hear another version of “The Girl from Ipanema." Ever. Herewith my appreciation to Eliane Elias for proving me wrong. Bossa nova turns 50 this year, hearkening back to Brazil in 1958, when guitarist Joao Gilberto recorded Jobim and de Moraes' seminal “Chega de Saudade." Characterized by samba-derived ...
Ernie Watts: To The Point - Live at the Jazz Bakery
by Andrew Velez
Recorded live at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, To The Point is the first non-studio recording of Ernie Watts' longtime quartet. Together for over 20 years, they have a cohesion and musical empathy that is palpable. The musically eclectic Watts has toured with The Rolling Stones and played in settings from Carmen McRae to Jean-Luc ...
Lou Donaldson: Lou Takes Off
by Andrew Velez
A cadre of young musicians, each who would, in time, evolve into a master, is caught as they begin to shine early on for this fireball 1957 set. A thinly disguised take on Cole Porter's “What Is This Thing Called Love?" is the opening tune, altoist Lou Donaldson's “Sputnik." It launches matters at full throttle, with ...
Benny Powell: Nextep
by Andrew Velez
A whiff of glorious, old-time New Orleans jazz in “Free to be Me" jubilantly launches trombonist Benny Powell's Nextep. Yet be assured the set is no trip down nostalgia lane. A working musician since his early teens in New Orleans, bop loyalist and veteran sideman at hundreds of recording sessions with the likes of everyone from ...
Cedar Walton: Seasoned Wood
by Andrew Velez
Seasoned is an apt term for Cedar Walton who, at 72, continues to dazzle, refresh and satisfy with his keyboard artistry. Among several of his compositions included in Seasoned Wood, “Clockwise" is a bit of unusual waltz-time magic from which gradations of application spill from his keyboard, chiseled and burnished, as drummer Al Foster lends dazzling ...
Benny Powell: Trombone Titan
by Andrew Velez
Master trombonist, composer, occasional vocalist and actor, NEA Jazz Master Benny Powell was saluted in 2008 at the All Nite Soul at Saint Peter Church in New York, along with his fellow honoree, pianist Jane Jarvis. A working musician since his early teens in New Orleans and a veteran sideman on hundreds of recording sessions with ...
