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Sometimes Jazz Takes Guts

by Chris M. Slawecki
Brownout Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath II Ubiquity Records 2016 Brownout bandleader and guitarist Adrian Quesada listened to a lot of different music, including blood-curdling heavy metal monsters Black Sabbath, while growing up in South Texas. Even while creating original music more reflective of their Mexican and American funk, ...
Dave Fiuczynski: Flam! Blam! Pan-Asian Microjam!

by Chris M. Slawecki
Simultaneously dedicated to 20th century classical composer Olivier Messiaen and legendary rap and hip-hop producer J Dilla, Flam! Blam! Pan-Asian Microjam! is a musical adventurer's dream and a purist's nightmare. But anything more conventional from conceptualist, composer and guitarist David Fiuczynski would probably be disappointing--after all, he's the Fuze" who lit the raging bonfire of the ...
Fresh Cut Orchestra: Mind Behind Closed Eyes

by Chris M. Slawecki
It's difficult to believe that the rich, full Mind Behind Closed Eyes is only the second release from Philadelphia's Fresh Cut Orchestra; it sounds so much more developed and mature than that. Composed by the Orchestra's core trio of drummer Anwar Marshall, bassist Jason Fraticelli and trumpeter Josh Lawrence, and rounded out by a host of ...
Louisiana Soul Revival: Louisiana Soul Revival Featuring Doug Duffey

by Chris M. Slawecki
Louisiana Soul Revival (LSR) frontman and primary composer Doug Duffey--already enshrined in the Louisiana Hall of Fame (in 2001) and the National Blues Hall of Fame (2009)--sure knows his musical roots. North Louisiana, in the Mississippi Delta, has deep musical roots in the blues, Memphis soul, southern gospel, rock 'n' roll, folk, and hybrids that are ...
Jose Mauro: Obnoxius

by Chris M. Slawecki
The oddly-titled Obnoxius bears precious little, and yet quite curious, baggage. Little is known about its original 1971 release other than it came out on a label founded by Brazilian producer Roberto Quartin, who also worked with Eumir Deodato. We seem to know even less about songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and arranger Jose Mauro. We ...
Sonny Rollins: Holding the Stage: Road Shows Vol. 4

by Chris M. Slawecki
At this point in his long and storied career, tenor saxman Sonny Rollins is probably incapable of releasing genuinely bad music (which isn't as obvious a statement as it may seem if, for example, you've tried to listen to Bob Dylan's Shadows in the Night Sinatra homage). Still, some sets are better than others, and Sonny ...
Marc Ribot: Live In Tokyo

by Chris M. Slawecki
Ah, The Sound of Philadelphia. For folks lucky enough to grow up in or around the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection in the mid-to late-1970s (I'm one), the very phrase resounds with memories, most emanating from Sigma Sound Studios on North 12th Street: Thick yet clear arrangements, pumping and thumping basslines and rhythms, masterful ...
From Microtones to Mauro to MFSB

by Chris M. Slawecki
Dave Fiuczynski Flam! Blam! Pan-Asian Microjam! RareNoise Records 2016 Simultaneously dedicated to 20th century classical composer Olivier Messiaen and legendary rap and hip-hop producer J Dilla, Flam! Blam! Pan-Asian Microjam! is a musical adventurer's dream and a purist's nightmare. But anything more conventional from conceptualist, composer and guitarist ...
Ethan Margolis: Perfect Mission of Feeling

by Chris M. Slawecki
Describing guitarist, composer, bandleader, producer and conceptualist Ethan Margolis as a citizen of the world barely does him or his music justice. Born and raised in Cleveland (OH), Margolis left the US when he was 21 to study the art of Gypsy flamenco guitar in Spain. He stayed there for more than a decade, living alongside ...
Cha Wa: Funk 'n' Feathers

by Chris M. Slawecki
"Party in a box" is an overused expression, of which yours truly is more guilty than most. But there's no better way to describe or explain the celebratory, communal and thoroughly excellent funky joy that radiates like the brilliant sun from Funk 'n' Feathers. Funk 'n' Feathers may be Cha Wa's debut release, but ...