Home » Search Center » Results: Jack Bowers
Results for "Jack Bowers"
Noel Okimoto: Ho'ihi
by Jack Bowers
Honolulu-born Noel Okimoto has been playing drums professionally since he was eleven years old. He has learned over the years to supervise the drum kit with equanimity and deference, a standard that Okimoto's octet endorses when approaching the music on his second album as a leader, Ho'ihi (ho-ee-hee), a Hawaiian phrase that translates roughly into “treat ...
The Dave Robbins Big Band: Happy Faces
by Jack Bowers
Even though its renowned leader and trombonist passed away in 2005, and the Dave Robbins Big Band's Happy Faces was recorded some forty years before that, the music on this remarkable album remains as fresh and provocative as today's front-page news. The Indiana-born Robbins, a legend among big-band artists and enthusiasts in Vancouver, British Columbia, and ...
Rahsaan Barber: Six Words
by Jack Bowers
The Six Words that epitomize woodwind artist Rahsaan Barber's fifth recording as a leader came to him via trumpeter Wynton Marsalis: “There is power in this music." And as Barber affirms on this tasteful studio date, aside from power there is depth and refinement as well. Barber commands a tight-knit sextet, so much so ...
Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra: This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters
by Jack Bowers
This Rock We're On, acclaimed composer and pianist Mike Holober's 2024 recording as leader of the Gotham Jazz Orchestra, is challenging to summarize in mere words, as it consists of a multi-part suite (on two CDs) which blends jazz, classical and art songs in a thematic environment that uses a series of “imaginary letters" from a ...
Robby Ameen: Live at the Poster Museum
by Jack Bowers
Unlike some drummer-led albums, wherein it is hard to determine who is actually piloting the ship, there are no doubts about who is in charge on Live at the Poster Museum--and that would be none other than Robby Ameen whose sharp and forceful timekeeping enlivens the heart and soul of every number, lending them a sizable ...
Western Jazz Collective: Dark Journey: The Music of Andrew Rathbun
by Jack Bowers
The Western Jazz Collective is a seven-member co-op group that actually hails from America's Midwest--more specifically, Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo--where the ensemble's crew serve as members of the faculty. The designation “Western" thus refers to the university rather than the septet's geographic location. Be that as it may, what infuses and animates ...
Brent Laidler: Hidden Gems
by Jack Bowers
The Hidden Gems alluded to by guitarist Brent Laidler on his third recording as leader comprise unique and seductive melodies and chord changes he uncovered while taking time during the Covid pandemic to skim through and sight-read some 14,000 tunes in 'fake books' and on his laptop computer, most of which never made it past that ...
Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band: What Is?
by Jack Bowers
Although the music of New York-based bandleader and arranger Russ Anixter may leave the average listener bemused and scratching his or her head, even the more perplexed among them would have to concede that Anixter has his personal North Star, and that he and the eleven-member Hippie Big Band follow it to the letter. Having grown ...
Zach Adleman: We Make: Stories For A New Day
by Jack Bowers
For someone not that long out of college, New York City-based drummer Zach Adleman has kept a full dance card, leading to the release of his impressive debut recording, We Make: Stories for a New Day, on which Adleman leads a nimble sextet through its paces on 11 charming and upbeat songs, nine of which he ...
Alex Coke & Carl Michel Sextet: Situation
by Jack Bowers
As might be envisioned from a sextet whose membership encompasses harp, vibraphone, flute and pedal steel guitar, the themes on saxophonist Alex Coke and guitarist Carl Michel's third album, Situation, are in large measure thoughtful and atmospheric. And while the music is charming and graceful, its ties to jazz are tenuous at best. ...
