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Art Pepper: Presents “West Coast Sessions” Volumes 1 & 2
by C. Michael Bailey
Alto saxophonist Art Pepper's comeback began the release of Living Legend (Contemporary, 1975). His previous 20 years had been fully devoted to heroin and prison, and their inevitable aftermath. Following the release of Living Legend, Pepper toured Japan in April 1977 and March 1978. Pepper found his most dedicated and enthusiastic crowd in Japan, recording a ...
Bill Watrous: In Love Again
After spending the early 1960s as a top New York studio trombonist, Bill Watrous caught a break in 1967 and recorded his first leadership album—In Love Again, for MTA Records. Given Watrous's beautiful tone, which was akin to Urbie Green's, I'm not quite sure why he couldn't land a much larger label like Verve, Roulette or ...
Rick Stepton: Off-The-Cuff Trombone
by Nicholas F. Mondello
There's a fascinating--almost stunning--moment mid-way through Off-the-Cuff Trombone wherein the late Buddy Rich is accompanying and intently observing trombonist Rick Stepton as Stepton solos with great intensity and zeal. Perceptive eyes can see that Rich, the toughest of tough customers, is visibly and physically moved at what he's heard. It's a not-so-subtle acknowledgement of the utmost ...
Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet: 10
by Chris M. Slawecki
10 celebrates the ten-year anniversary of the Afro-Peruvian Sextet founded and simultaneously led by horn player Gabriel Alegría from New York City (where Alegría serves as Professor of Jazz Studies at New York University) and Lima, Peru. “It's a concept album," Alegría shares. “For our tenth anniversary, we wanted to give special care to American and ...
From Sea to Shining Sea: Music Central to South and Latin America
by Chris M. Slawecki
Aguankó Invisible Aguankó Music 2015 In 2012, conguero and composer Alberto Nacif, a Mexican native transplanted in Michigan, brought together some of the area's most skilled Afro-Cuban and Latin musicians to form Aguankó. Their small ensemble with a large Latin jazz sound herewith follows up their self-produced 2013 debut Elemental ...
Music Education Monday: A master class with trombonist Bill Watrous
This week for Music Education Monday, it's a master class from trombonist Bill Watrous. Beginning his career in the early 1960s, Watrous has played and recorded with musicians such as Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Kai Winding, and Quincy Jones, as well as leading his own big band, originally known as the Manhattan Wildlife Refuge, and later ...
Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet Celebrates 10th Anniversary With "10," Due From ZOHO Music on August 7
A decade of musical innovation by Gabriel Alegría's Afro-Peruvian Sextet is something to celebrate, and the ensemble marks this anniversary in glorious style with the release of 10, due for release August 7 by ZOHO Music. The program on the band’s 5th CD is richly infused with Alegría’s trademark synthesis of folkloric Afro-Peruvian rhythms, jazz, and ...
Kevin Fort: Red Gold
by Edward Blanco
Chicago-based educator and jazz pianist, Kevin Fort unveils his debut and first solo album on Red Gold, where he presents an exciting session of light contemporary jazz employing a standard piano trio to document fresh new arrangements of several standards and three original compositions. An active musician in Chicago's vibrant jazz scene for the past fifteen-years, ...
The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra: A Beautiful Friendship
by Jack Bowers
Sometimes, just when it seems things couldn't possibly get any better, they do. That is certainly the case with A Beautiful Friendship, the spectacular new recording by arranger Gary Urwin's superlative southern California-based Jazz Orchestra. Having released three earlier albums showcasing the exceptional artistry of tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb and / or trombonist Bill Watrous, Urwin ...
Doc Stewart Big Band Resuscitation: Code Blue!
by Jack Bowers
"Doc" is much more than a nickname to Chris Stewart: it's a profession. And straight-ahead jazz is far more than a pastime: it's a passion. For the past sixteen years, Doc Stewart's day gig has been ER physician at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Scottsdale, AZ. Long before that, however, Stewart was a working musician who ...
