Results for "Jack Bowers"
Results for pages tagged "Jack Bowers"...
Vanessa Perica Orchestra: The Eye is the First Circle
by Jack Bowers
In a review of Love Is a Temporary Madness, the debut recording by Australian composer/arranger Vanessa Perica, the observation was made that “Perica's impact in the realm of big-band jazz should be anything but temporary." Perica's second album, The Eye Is the First Circle, has added an exclamation point to that assertion. Again, ...
Sharon Minemoto: Dark Night, Bright Stars
by Jack Bowers
Dark Night, Bright Stars, the second recording by Vancouver, Canada-based pianist Sharon Minemoto and her well-knit quartet, has no need for unseemly frills or flourishes. This is simply clear, plain-spoken contemporary jazz, ably performed by Minemoto and her talented teammates. The album's dozen numbers, all written and arranged by Minemoto, are tasteful and ...
Brad Turner Quintet: The Magnificent
by Jack Bowers
If the title of Canadian trumpeter Brad Turner's latest album, The Magnificent, sounds a trifle self-absorbed, rest assured it does not refer to him but to another “magnificent" horn player, the late Thad Jones. The honorific, however, would not be unwisely used if applied to Turner himself, who not only excels on the trumpet but also ...
Gregory Lewis: Organ Monk Going Home
by Jack Bowers
Imagine Thelonious Monk playing not piano but organ. Not easy to visualize, but that is the concept Gregory Lewis wishes to present on Organ Monk Going Home, the “home" in this instance exemplifying not a physical space where one goes to rest and refresh the soul but a metaphorical creation of the mind whose images are ...
Doug Richards Orchestra: Through a Sonic Prism
by Jack Bowers
If the title of the Doug Richards Orchestra's new album, Through a Sonic Prism, seems a bit esoteric, its subtitle--"The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim"--should help set the mind at ease. This is undeniably beautiful music, handsomely arranged by Richards and flawlessly performed by his eighteen-member Virginia-based ensemble and vocalist Laura Ann Singh, whose seductive voice ...
Jennifer Wharton's Bonegasm: Grit & Grace
by Jack Bowers
Asked to name the traits women most need to succeed in today's business world, Forbes magazine in a 2019 article underlined two of them as “grit and grace." One woman who took the advice to heart is bass trombonist Jennifer Wharton. She came late to jazz but has since made it her domain of choice, founding ...
George Gee Swing Orchestra: Winter Wonderland
by Jack Bowers
After an absence of several years the New York City-based George Gee Swing Orchestra is back in a recording studio, doing what it does best--swinging merrily through a Winter Wonderland chock-full of holiday favorites that kids of all ages can relate to and appreciate. Gee formed his first band while still in college ...
Ron Blake: Mistaken Identity
by Jack Bowers
Once hailed as a promising young lion, Puerto Rico-born saxophonist Ron Blake is more a crafty old fox these days, bringing his wealth of experience and undeniable talent to bear on Mistaken Identity, his first album as leader in fifteen years. To assure a broad comfort zone, Blake invited guitarist Bobby Broom, a ...
Remy Le Boeuf: Architecture of Storms
by Jack Bowers
It's hard to become bored or complacent when listening to Architecture of Storms, alto saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf's second album as leader of the twenty-member Assembly of Shadows orchestra. Every song is quite different from the others, and every one has its moments of shapeliness and charm. Le Boeuf arranged every number and ...
