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Results for "Billy Strayhorn"
Smoke Sessions: Cyrus Chestnut, Orrin Evans and Eric Reed
by C. Michael Bailey
Cyrus Chestnut Midnight Melodies Smoke Sessions 2014 Elegance and economy characterize Cyrus Chestnut's art. Chestnut's career was the one Kenny Kirkland could have had had Kirkland's fate been different. Chestnut (and Evans and Reed) represent the generation given way to with the passings of Mulgrew Miller and Cedar ...
Tommy Smith/Brian Kellock: Whispering of the Stars
by Dan McClenaghan
Tommy Smith is known best for his directorship of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. The group has emerged as one of the finest of big bands with offerings like the classic In the Spirit of Duke (Spartacus records, 2013), a tribute to Duke Ellington, Rhapsody In Blue (Spartacus Records, 2006), an extended and stunning remake of ...
Billy Strayhorn: Out Of The Shadows
by Chris Mosey
An elaborate box set from the Danish Storyville label: seven CDs and one DVD, paying tribute to Duke Ellington's arranger and composer Billy Strayhorn that--alas--doesn't quite live up to the ambitions of it's makers. Ask yourself, was Strayhorn truly the shadowy figure implied by the title? While the bulk of ...
Bobby Sanabria Spreads The Latin Jazz Gospel
by Steve Bryant
Drummer, percussionist, composer, educator, Bobby Sanabria has gained renown and respect from fans and musicians alike as one of the foremost proponents of what is labeled Afro-Cuban/Latin Jazz. Born and raised in the South Bronx, Sanabria performed with a veritable Who's Who in the world of jazz and Latin music, as well as with his own ...
Jeff Colella/Putter Smith: Lotus Blossom
by Dan Bilawsky
Lotus Blossom is an absorbing date that projects plaintive beauty, reflective moods, and introspective ideals. It's a meeting of two master musicians who engage in thoughtful conversation that's quietly emotive. Pianist Jeff Colella, who's worked with everybody from vocalist Lou Rawls to arranging-composing legend Bill Holman, and bassist Putter Smith, whose credits include ...
Roberto Magris: Ready for Reed
by Edward Blanco
Alto saxophonist Sam Reed is legend in the Philadelphia jazz scene who was leader of the 1950s band, Sam Reed and the All-Stars, worked uptown theatre for a while, performed with pop and R&B stars and served as the musical director for Teddy Pendergrass just to mention a few highlights from his long musical resume . ...
Maud Hixson: Studying Scores and Moving Forward
by David Bittinger
Maud Hixson has built an accomplished career as a performer and recording artist out of unlikely circumstances. She grew up far from the capitals of jazz and vocal music, in the Twin Cities area. Doris Day's performance in the Ruth Etting biopic “Love Me Or Leave Me" served as a primary inspiration for a young Maud ...
Alan Broadbent And NDR Bigband: America The Beautiful
by Edward Blanco
Being a part of the big band sound was an experience pianist Alan Broadbent embraced, endured and eventually, wanted to step away from. Orchestra music--comprised of boisterous reeds and brass sections--were far too loud and too big drowning out the finesse sounds of the acoustic piano. When Broadbent left the Woody Herman Big Band in 1972, ...
Ed Partyka Jazz Orchestra: Hits!*, Vol. 1
by Jack Bowers
There's actually an asterisk after the title of the Ed Partyka Jazz Orchestra's latest album, Hits! Vol. 1 In small print, at the bottom left-hand side of the jacket, are the words “except track 8." As Partyka explains in the liner notes, much of the album is comprised of “a cross section of the music that ...
The Basin Street Brawlers: It's Tight Like That
by Bruce Lindsay
It's Tight Like That! is the debut release from the Basin Street Brawlers. Self-styled “purveyors of hot jazz"--indeed, with laudable hubris, “London's own master exponents of hot jazz"--the Basin Street Brawlers hark back to a bygone age, when sharp suits were de rigueur and bands that failed to get their audiences dancing would soon be excluded ...
