Home » Search Center » Results: CD/LP/Track Review
Results for "CD/LP/Track Review"
Vince Guaraldi: A Charlie Brown Christmas
by Marc Davis
A Charlie Brown Christmas is the corniest jazz-Christmas album ever made. And that's OK. It's even good. I know the dig. What Vince Guaraldi played wasn't jazz, it was lounge music. It was sentimental. It was lightweight. It was sappy. Yep. All of that. So what? Christmas time is about memories. That's ...
Ellen Bødtker / Jan Erik Vold: Sommeren Der Ute
by Jakob Baekgaard
A poem called “Hokusai, The Old Master," by the Norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold, tells about the understanding of art and life as a process that deepens with old age: “so when I turn 100 / I shall produce / praiseworthy things." Even though Vold has not turned 100 yet, he has reached ...
Miho Hazama: Time River
by Hrayr Attarian
Composer, bandleader and pianist Miho Hazama's second release for Sunnnyside Records, Time River, is a uniquely thrilling album. The sublimely variegate harmonic color, the gripping, dramatic atmosphere and the dynamic musical ideas result in a cohesive and impeccably crafted album that is alive with spontaneity. Each of the nine original and distinctive pieces is perfectly constructed ...
Claudia Franco: Soul Dance
by Chris Mosey
Claudia Franco, one of the most promising of the new generation of Portuguese jazz vocalists, is concentrating for the moment on building up a following in the jazz clubs and nightspots of Lisbon, where she teaches music. “I haven't really considered the possibility of playing outside of Portugal," she says, “I'm focused on ...
Edith Piaf: 1915-2015
by Bruce Lindsay
2015 is the centenary of one of the best-loved, most charismatic singers of the twentieth century. For some that singer is Billie Holiday, for others it's Frank Sinatra: but for many more, especially in the French-speaking world, it's the legendary Edith Piaf. 1915-2015, a vinyl-only Best Of collection, establishes the case for Piaf's status beyond doubt.
UNT One O'Clock Lab Band: Lab 2015
by Jack Bowers
Jay Saunders, director of the University of North Texas' flagship ensemble, the One O'Clock Lab Band, sums up the group's latest recording, Lab 2015, in one concise and canny sentence: “Sometimes it's best just to let the band play what they want to play." With that in mind, Saunders writes in the album's liner notes, he ...
Michael Kocour: Spiffy
by David A. Orthmann
Though a soulful swing-to-bop ethos reminiscent of the popular organ combos of the mid-to-late twentieth century is evident throughout, at its core Spiffy speaks to the malleability and open-endedness of the standard elements of jazz performance. Michael Kocour is the leader of the date, but the record's triumph is collective in nature. It's difficult to imagine ...
Various Artists: Groove & Grind: Rare Soul 1963 - '73
by Chris M. Slawecki
We call it “soul music" for a reason: Because from Ray Charles grooving on “America the Beautiful" to Maxwell gently hammering out his steps to “Ascension," the best soul music hits deep in our ears, our minds and our hearts. Groove & Grind: Rare Soul 1963 -'73, which compiles more than 100 rare soul ...
UMO Jazz Orchestra with Michael Brecker: Live in Helsinki 1995
by Jack Bowers
If your fondness for big-band jazz includes searching for hidden treasures, here's a recently uncovered gem that should more than gladden your spirit: a concert recording from 1995 by Finland's superb UMO Jazz Orchestra featuring the renowned tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker who left us far too soon a dozen years later at age fifty-seven. The impeccably ...
Sonny Sharrock: Ask the Ages
by C. Michael Bailey
Guitarist Sonny Sharrock had been recording since 1969, in a variety of formats. In 1991, he recorded his masterpiece, Ask the Ages for Axiom records. The recording was produced by Sharrock and MOD Technologies founder and bassist Bill Laswell. Axiom Records was a precursor to Laswell's MOD Technologies. It is fitting that Laswell resurrect Sharrock's magnum ...
Trending
In Tribute To...
Points of View: Celebrating Dave Holland
Interview
Boney James: A Simple Man And A Lifetime Study
Interview
Miles Okazaki's Monkathon: The Complete Thelonious...
Interview
Bill Bruford And Pete Roth: A One-Of-A-Kind Juxtaposition
Musician 2 Musician
Steve Coleman on Dave Holland
Live Review
Isaiah Collier Plays Coltrane: Live at Jazz Alley in Seattle
Reanimating Conversations Past
John Scofield: Meant To Be
VOTE!
