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Wellstone Conspiracy: Motives
by Dan McClenaghan
This ensemble might have been labeled the Brent Jensen Quartet. They recorded One More Mile under the Idaho-based saxophonist's name. For their album Motives, however, they are calling themselves the Wellstone Conspiracy as they delve deeper into a melodic music that is steeped in the modern harmonic concepts of Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. The set ...
Erika: Obsession
by Bruce Lindsay
Obsession is vocalist Erika Matsuo's debut CD, but it comes after a long and varied musical career that includes the all-girl rock band Tear Drops, in her native Japan, and work with the City College of New York's Latin jazz band. This is the debut, therefore, of an experienced singer and it shows in Matsuo's confident ...
Dave Glasser: Evolution
by Dan Bilawsky
Alto saxophonist Dave Glasser might have been born at the wrong time. While he is performing and recording some terrific music in the 21st century, his stylistic preferences lean heavily on the music of the 1940s and '50s. Glasser spent ample time over the past two-plus decades performing with Clark Terry, Illinois Jacquet, and Barry Harris, ...
Dan Pratt: Toe The Line
by Dan Bilawsky
Toe The Line does far more than its name implies. Saxophonist Dan Pratt has put together a record that, while loyal to the “small organ group" tradition, also manages to cover broad stylistic ground. Within this category, certain norms or standards seem to be expected in the music: Jimmy Smith's records provide a grooving and intense ...
Ehud Asherie: Modern Life
by John Barron
New York-based pianist Ehud Asherie swings hard on Modern Life, his third release for Posi-Tone Records. With the help of tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, bassist Joel Forbes and drummer Chuck Riggs, the Israeli-born Asherie demonstrates an in-depth understanding of the piano jazz tradition. Throughout this set of standards and riff-based Asherie originals, it doesn't take long ...
Ehud Asherie: Modern Life
by Bruce Lindsay
Modern life, if this fine recording from Israeli-born, New York-based pianist Ehud Asherie is anything to go by, happened sometime between the late-1940s and the late-'50s. From the beautifully-designed packaging--with the greens and golds of the graphics matched by those of Asherie's suit, shirt and tie--to the exquisite renditions of classic tunes and a couple of ...
Ehud Asherie: Modern Life
by Dan Bilawsky
A dichotomy exists within the musical mind of pianist Ehud Asherie. The youthful pianist is clearly an old soul in many ways. His choice of material--including tunes from George Gershwin, Billy Strayhorn and Jerome Kern--combined with his knowledge of stride piano and fondness for the jazz masters of the early twentieth century are a throwback. However, ...
Michael Janisch: Purpose Built
by J Hunter
At a glance, Purpose Built, bassist Michael Janisch's debut as a leader, looks like a big-band session. The roster on the back of the CD case is not just stocked with notables, it's a long list of notables. As such, it would make sense to imagine this group arranged on risers, pinning the studio's needles as ...
Hadley Caliman: Straight Ahead
by Dan McClenaghan
Seattle-based tenor saxophonist, Hadley Caliman took a thirty year hiatus from recording before he released Gratitude (Origin Records, 2008). It was an exceptional mainstream set that displayed Caliman's John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, and Joe Henderson influences, in hints and brief whispers, and reintroduced the saxophonist's own distinctive, full-of-life voicings.With Straight Ahead, he steps out ...
Steve Kaldestad: Blow-Up
by Raul d'Gama Rose
The continued ignoring of Canadian musicians in “Jazz Central, South of the Border" ought to have been a thing of the past a long time ago. Thankfully Canadian record labels such as Montreal-based Justin Time and Effendi Records, Toronto-based Alma Records, and now Vancouver's wonderful Cellar Live are hopefully fast-changing that. Blow-Up, from saxophonist Steve Kaldestad, ...
