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Michael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Jack Bowers
Even though all but unsung outside his customary locale, Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill has drawn into his orbit a small but well-respected circle of jazz artists including bassist Rodney Whitaker, guitarist Randy Napoleon and trombonist Michael Dease, all of whom have recorded albums dedicated to Hill's diverse and sophisticated music. Found in Space is Dease's second ...
Gardyn Jazz Orchestra: Vinyl Brews
by Jack Bowers
Alto saxophonist Jon C. Gardner not only leads the piquant and powerful Philadelphia-based Gardyn Jazz Orchestra, he also wrote and arranged every song on Vinyl Brews, an in-concert performance recorded in December 2023 at Chris' Jazz Café in the City of Brotherly Love. There are half a dozen tunes in all, three of which are presented ...
Brian Landrus: Plays Ellington & Strayhorn
by Jack Bowers
When gathering material for a new recording, one time-honored rule of thumb is that it is hard to stray too far off course when revisiting the musical handiwork of renowned composer Duke Ellington and/or the Duke's virtuosic alter ego, Billy Strayhorn--even if one chooses to lead with an Ellington theme as relatively unknown as “Agra" from ...
Jon Gordon: 7th Ave South
by Jack Bowers
Some of life's moments, even when buried in the past, remain almost as fresh and memorable as today's. Such is alto saxophonist Jon Gordon's memory of his first visit to New York City's then-jazz center, Greenwich Village's 7th Avenue South, which was “the first place [he] ever heard live jazz in New York." That was in ...
Wayne Alpern: Gotham
by Jack Bowers
There are a number of bright and interesting moments on New York-based arranger Wayne Alpern's album, Gotham, wherein he makes good use of a well-polished tentet on several generally handsome and engaging charts. Alpern's choice of music is eclectic, ranging from Tchaikovsky to Jobim, Rodgers and Hart to Stephen Sondheim, Hoagy Carmichael to Horace Silver, Alex ...
The Jim Self-John Chiodini Duo: Feels So Good
by Jack Bowers
Tuba maestro Jim Self and gregarious guitarist John Chiodini unite for the fifth time on Feels So Good, a studio date whose title neatly encapsulates its upbeat vibe. Even though it seems at first blush that the tuba and guitar should be playing in different leagues, Self and Chiodini somehow make the odd mixture work. Self ...
The New Wonders: Steppin' Out
by Jack Bowers
Although the ten songs performed by cornetist Mike Davis' Brooklyn-based septet, The New Wonders, on the group's second album, Steppin' Out, are well removed from new, most have stood the test of time and remained popular with a small yet devoted number of trad jazz enthusiasts, some for a century or more. The New Wonders carry ...
Rich Willey: Boptism Christmas
by Jack Bowers
With seasonal jazz albums in rather short supply this year, it is a pleasure to welcome Boptism Christmas, a series of mostly well- known holiday tunes ably performed by multi-instrumentalist Rich Willey and his impressive North Carolina-based octet-plus-one. The “plus one" applies to Tracks 5 and 6, on which Russ Wilson joins the ...
Jon De Lucia: The Brubeck Octet Project
by Jack Bowers
Having formed his jazz octet in 2016 for a project at City College of New York, where he was then teaching, Brooklyn-based alto saxophonist Jon De Lucia had to find new music to keep it going--a search that led him to the archives at Mills College, which housed many of Dave Brubeck's original handwritten charts among ...
Visions Jazz Ensemble: Across the Field
by Jack Bowers
Here is a unique and intriguing concept: a baker's dozen collegiate anthems and fight songs, trimly recast in contemporary jazz settings by the seven-member Visions Jazz Ensemble, comprised of Indiana University alumni who stride Across the Field with an abundance of proficiency and perception. Although the hip arrangements by the ensemble's co-leaders, trumpeter ...
