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Danny Mixon: Pass It On
by Chris M. Slawecki
You'd think that a pianist who's solidly served as sideman for such pillars of the jazz community as Charles Mingus, Betty Carter, Kenny Dorham, Grant Green and others (including Afro-Cuban firebrands Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers), would be at least somewhat famous. But since his first performances in the mid-1970s, pianist Danny Mixon has maintained ...
James Hughes & Jimmy Smith Quintet: Ever Up & Onward
by Mark Sullivan
Detroit was once a vital jazz center, contributing some of the major hard bop artists of the 1960s: Hank, Thad, and Elvin Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Paul Chambers, Kenny Burrell, and Ron Carter, just to name a few. The James Hughes & Jimmy Smith Quintet honors that tradition by playing mostly original hard bop with ...
U.S. Army Blues: Live At Blues Alley
by Dan Bilawsky
When thinking of military bands, many tend to focus on their sterling technique and punctilious performances above all else. Creative concerns are rarely part of the conversation, but this album makes you wonder why. The U.S. Army Blues, a blue-chip big band of brothers that serves as the flagship jazz ensemble in the titular military branch, ...
Chaise Lounge: Gin Fizz Fandango
by Mark Sullivan
Washington DC's Chaise Lounge know how to show the listener a good time. On their seventh album they take the “cocktail jazz" description literally, offering a recipe for the title cocktail in the CD liner notes, compliments of the band's resident mixologist, bassist Pete Ostle. Not only that: there's even a “Play along with Chaise Lounge" ...
Danny Mixon: Pass It On
by Mark Sullivan
Despite his low profile, veteran pianist Danny Mixon has quite a history. His career has included stints playing with Betty Carter, Kenny Dorham, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Frank Foster, Grant Green, Pharoah Sanders, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Charles Mingus, and many others. Most of Pass It On finds him alternating between solos and trios. Many of the ...
Chaise Lounge: A Very Chaise Lounge Christmas
by Mark Sullivan
Sparkling holiday music from the Washington, DC area group Chaise Lounge. Calling what they do “martini-jazz" gives them license to toss just about anything into the stylistic mix, and they have an eclectic good time with it. The use of “Christmas" in the album title is a bit of a misnomer, since only about half of ...
Mundell Lowe / Lloyd Wells / Jim Ferguson: Poor Butterfly
by Mark Sullivan
Mainstream jazz guitar doesn't get much better than this. Guitarist Mundell Lowe's long career includes sideman stints with Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, André Previn, and many others; he has composed film and TV scores as well. Co-guitarist Lloyd Wells also grew up in Laurel, Mississippi, giving the pair a hometown connection. The two previously collaborated on ...
Aguanko: Invisible
by Chris M. Slawecki
In 2012, conguero and composer Alberto Nacif, a Mexican native transplanted in Michigan, brought together some of the area's most skilled Afro-Cuban and Latin musicians to form Aguankó. Their small ensemble with a large Latin jazz sound herewith follows up their self-produced 2013 debut Elemental with a sparkling new set entirely written by Nacif, featuring Aguankó ...
June Bisantz: It's Always You: June Bisantz Sings Chet Baker Vol. 2
by Mark Sullivan
Vocalist June Bisantz pays tribute to the singing of legendary trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker on this collection of standards associated with him. Along with collaborators pianist Alex Nakhimovsky and guitarist Norman Johnson (plus a number of other musicians), the group achieves its goal by emulation rather than imitation. Bisantz captures Baker's soft, intimate vocal sound, the key ...
Keigo Hirakawa Trio: And Then There Were Three
by Mark Sullivan
Pianist Keigo Hirakawa clearly loves bebop, and bandmates Eddie Brookshire (bass) and Fenton Sparks (drums) are on the same page. There's energy and swing in abundance here, and while it is contemporary jazz, it's also telling that their cover of the great bebop pianist Bud Powell's classic “Dance Of The Infidels" fits right in with the ...
