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Article: Liner Notes

John Swana: Philly Gumbo Vol.2

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 19, 2024

It seems like a lot of up and coming trumpeters these days go for the bop stylings of Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw as their main influence. Far fewer look to players like Art Farmer or Kenny Wheeler for inspiration. That's what has made watching the development of Philadelphia trumpet man John Swana so fascinating over ...

Article: Liner Notes

John Swana: Philly Gumbo

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 15, 2024

It seems like a case of the big fish swimming in a small pond. So while Philadelphia native John Swana currently chooses to make his home in the city of Brotherly Love, it's clearly evident that this world-class musician could succeed easily in the Big Apple, the undisputed center of jazz activity in America. Taking up ...

Article: Liner Notes

One For All: Blueslike

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 13, 2024

As the timeworn adage goes, sometimes the best things come from situations where one is asked to function in less than ideal circumstances. When you have little time to analyze things and go with pure instincts, there's an air of veracity and spontaneity to the results that is seldom arrived at by any other means. Although ...

Article: Liner Notes

One For All: Live at Smoke Vol.1

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 13, 2024

Aside from the musical fireworks that make the enclosed sides noteworthy, there are additional factors that mark Live at Smoke as a major event. For one thing, this “on location" recording is one of the rare live dates to grace the Criss Cross catalog. Furthermore, it serves as a perfect summation up to this point of ...

Article: Live Review

Cedar Walton Trio at Night Town

by C. Andrew Hovan
April 11, 2002

Cedar Walton Trio Night Town Cleveland Heights, Ohio April 4, 2002 Every spring, jazz fans in Cleveland can look forward to a stupefying array of festivities revolving around the Tri-C JazzFest, which happens to be America's premier educational jazz festival. Over the years, this has also meant that other jazz-related presentations ...

Article: Multiple Reviews

More OJC Magic: Masterpieces from Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck

by C. Andrew Hovan
January 29, 2024

Although they might have been one of the last concerns to significantly ramp up their release schedules when the vinyl renaissance hit its stride, Concord has been making up for lost time with several series now part of their Craft imprimatur. At the end of 2023, they announced a new audiophile reissue series titled after the ...

Article: Live Review

Joshua Redman Group at the Cleveland Museum of Art

by C. Andrew Hovan
January 19, 2024

Joshua Redman Group featuring Gabrielle Cavassa Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art Cleveland, Ohio January 10, 2024 While the Cleveland Museum of Art is acknowledged worldwide for its fine collection of works, the performance space provided by the 683-seat Gartner Auditorium has seen its share of ups and downs. ...

Article: Liner Notes

Joe Magnarelli: Hoop Dreams

by C. Andrew Hovan
January 8, 2024

As Duke Ellington would often remind us, music comes in two varieties, that which is good and that which is bad. This suggests that genre and category are really of little concern and that overall quality is really the defining factor in considering the validity of any musical expression. Taking this axiom one step further, let ...

Article: Liner Notes

Brian Lynch: Con Clave Vol.2

by C. Andrew Hovan
January 4, 2024

The jazz musician's road to success and sustainability is a rocky one, marked with more than its share of ups and downs. Becoming the norm as of late, those with the strongest staying power have increased their flexibility by becoming more diverse in their efforts. The affect is thus twofold-providing an income to pay the rent, ...

Article: Multiple Reviews

Craft Latino: Tito Puente; Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe

by C. Andrew Hovan
January 3, 2024

One of the major benefits of the current vinyl renaissance is the availability of albums long forgotten, but in vital need of renewed attention. Concord Record's Craft imprimatur has been at the forefront in terms of releases that benefit from excellent sound and quality control. Especially fortuitous have been the reissues from the Latin music holdings ...