Home » Search Center » Results: Greg Simmons
Results for "Greg Simmons"
Lions in Winter
by Greg Simmons
Recently passed jazz greats, saxophonist James Moody and pianist Hank Jones, were both fortunate enough to be making solid, vital recordings right up to the ends of their lives. Moody's 4A (IPO, 2009) and 4B (IPO, 2010) were as well-played as any he ever recorded, and Jones, who was still active in his last year at ...
Ted Rosenthal Trio: Impromptu
by Greg Simmons
On Impromptu, pianist Ted Rosenthal modestly credits every track to the original classical composer on which the song is based. It's a nice, self-effacing touch, but probably unnecessary. No one will misconstrue this album as anything but a modern jazz recording--and a good one at that--even if Rosenthal is performing adaptations. For the most ...
Carlos Franzetti and Allison Brewster Franzetti: Alborada
by Greg Simmons
With Alborada, pianists Carlos Franzetti and Allison Brewster-Franzetti, along with the City of Prague Philharmonic, have attempted an ambitious fusion of jazz and classical music that ventures far beyond simple orchestral arrangements as aural wallpaper. Third Stream--the blending of genres to create a hybrid of sorts--has been around, with varying degrees of success, for ...
Eric Reed: The Dancing Monk
by Greg Simmons
Every jazz pianist stands somewhere in the shadow of Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), and Eric Reed has embraced that shadow, with The Dancing Monk. Interpreting the near-mythic pianist/composer's music--let alone making an entire album of his tunes--poses significant challenges to any modern musician, and especially for a pianist. First, Monk's compositions are, indeed, challenging, in ...
Paolo Fresu: Songlines / Night & Blue
by Greg Simmons
Paolo Fresu's Songlines/Night & Blue is a beautiful performance by a musician who does not feel compelled to prove himself with pyrotechnics. Instead, on this two-disc set, the Italian trumpeter prefers speaking his piece with lush melodies and a rich full horn sound, supported by an exceptional quartet. Being an Italian album, it seems ...
Jerry Bergonzi: Convergence
by Greg Simmons
Saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi has become one of the most reliable recording artists in jazz. In between his day job as a Berklee College of Music professor, and performing, he turns out a great album or two every year. Featuring mostly tenor horn, Convergence follows dutifully in that pattern. The album splits between a classic piano-based quartet ...
Jackie McLean: New Soil
by Greg Simmons
Jackie McLean's New Soil, is not the most acclaimed album in the classic Blue Note catalogue, but this 1959 release deserves more attention that it gets, being supremely well-played, well-written and--within the limitations of its time--well-recorded. This vinyl reissue, remastered from the original tapes by the good folks at Acous-Tech, is part of a series of ...
Peter Beets: Chopin Meets the Blues
by Greg Simmons
While a knowledge of romantic pianist Frederic Chopin (1810--1849) can add to the experience of listening to pianist Peter Beets' Chopin Meets the Blues , it is by no means essential to enjoying it. This is a jazz album first and foremost, and a very good one at that. Beets uses Chopin's charts as ...
The New World Jazz Composers Octet: Transitions
by Greg Simmons
The best of jazz generally ensures that there is a leader, a composition, or at least an agreed upon theme that holds the work together, and herein lies the conundrum of The New World Jazz Composers Octet's Transitions.Musical egalitarianism is one of the hallmarks of jazz--the notion that everyone has an opportunity to make ...
Horace Silver: The Cape Verdean Blues
by Greg Simmons
Any review of an XRCD extended resolution CD reissue of hard bop pianist Horace Silver's The Cape Verdean Blues is going to be as much about the success of the format as it is about the music.The music on old recordings, re-released in expensive high-tech format by specialist Elusive Disc (in it's series of ...
