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Charming Hostess: Sarajevo Blues
by Dan McClenaghan
Charming Hostess--Jewlia Eisenberg with Marika Hughes and Cynthia Taylor--sounds like a Phil Spector '60s girl group that decided to fire the famed producer, telling him on the way out the door, “So long, pal, we got some ideas of our own." Their ideas, on Sarajevo Blues, are in the socially concious/protest vein; they make their music ...
Irene Schweizer and Omri Ziegele: Where's Africa
by Dan McClenaghan
This duo outing, featuring saxophonist Omri Ziegele and Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer, thrives on the contrasts of the two artists' styles. Schweizer's approach is joyous and ribald, a loose and free-flowing love affair with her instrument. Alto saxophonist Ziegele has a robust tone, a bit raw-edged, intense and imaginative. On Where's Africa the duo dives into ...
Melissa Sweeney: Golden Thread
by Dan McClenaghan
The lady, Melissa Sweeney, has a voice, warm, rich-toned, mature; and she had a childhood that sounds like heaven--a “record fiend" mother who provided her with the sounds of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Nat King Cole, MJQ, Ella, Anita O'Day; and then a tender-age job at KBIG-FM jazz station in Los Angeles and the access to ...
Stewy Von Wattenwyl: Dienda
by Dan McClenaghan
In a review of Live at Bird's Eye, a CD by the Stewy Von Wattenwyl Trio featuring Eric Alexander, All About Jazz reviewer Jack Bowers praised saxophonist Alexander's ability to use his technique to form an emotional bond with the listener. That is what the best artists do, and it's what the pianist on that particular ...
Amina Figarova: Come Escape with Me
by Dan McClenaghan
Many successful jazz pianists got their start, at early ages, studying classical music. Then jazz lures them away. A constant surprise is the verve and energy so many of these classically trained musicians bring to improvisation.Born in Baku, Azerbaijan and now based in the Netherlands, pianist Amina Figarova's Come Escape with Me bristles with ...
Bill Cunliffe: Tomo
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Bill Cunliffe, winner of the 1989 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, seems to be making something of a career out of recording Reed Kotler tunes. He did that with Bobby Shew, Gary Foster and Friends Play the Music of Reed Kotler in 2002; Bill Cunliffe and Gary Foster: It's About Love: The Music of Reed ...
Chris Walden Big Band: Home of My Heart
by Dan McClenaghan
German-born, Los Angeles-based composer/arranger/flugelhornist Chris Walden looks way too young to be this good at a task as daunting as big band writing. He looks almost too young to be sitting in with the band, though he is pushing the ripe old age of forty. But he started early at the art, writing big band arrangements ...
Paster/Ryan/Hall: Skyline
by Dan McClenaghan
Piano trio efforts fall flat or fly on mostly nebulous, difficult-to-define aspects of the sound: collective energy, group cohesion, and an ability to get “inside" the music. The classic trios include those led by Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson--to name just a few. To name some contemporay guys who fly, you'd have to mention Keith ...
Kareem Roustom, El-Zafeer Ensemble: Almitra's Question
by Dan McClenaghan
Guitarist Kareem Roustom was born in Damascus, Syria to American and Syrian parents; on Almitra's Question he and the El-Zafeer Ensemble make music that blends American jazz with Arabic sounds. The rhythm patterns and the distinctive percussion (riqq and daff) lend an exotic and crisply declamatory backdrop to Roustom's lush accoustic guitar playing and violinist Hanna ...
Kolner Saxophon Mafia: Spaceplayer
by Dan McClenaghan
One half of the Kolner Saxophone Mafia--Roger Hanschel and Steffen Schorn--grabbed my attention last year with the unique sound of Triosphere, where the two multiple reedmen teamed with guitarist Dirk Mudelein. Its invigorating mix of sounds made the disc one of the most interesting discoveries of '04. On Spaceplayer, Schorn and Hanschel join Wollie Kaiser and ...
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