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38

Article: Album Review

Albare & Co.: Freedom

Read "Freedom" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

"Jazz is the voice of freedom," says Israeli-born guitarist & composer Albare, “and it will never be silenced." To that end, Albare has assembled a world-class sextet to perform seven of his sunny, swing-based compositions, two others co-written with pianist Phil Turcio and Turcio's graceful “Shimmozle." The session begins, appropriately enough, with Albare's ...

33

Article: Album Review

Doug MacDonald: Overtones

Read "Overtones" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

The term “all-star" is not one to be used lightly. Be that as it may, the appellation fits guitarist Doug MacDonald's Los Angeles-based octet as snugly as a glove; he and his colleagues are among the finest, most experienced and in-demand musicians on the West Coast. On Overtones, recorded in September 2021, the ensemble shows its ...

43

Article: Album Review

Craig Davis: Tone Paintings

Read "Tone Paintings" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

The subtitle of pianist Craig Davis' second album, Tone Paintings, is “The Music of Dodo Marmarosa." For those who may be inclined to ask, “Dodo who?" the album offers a mini-biography of Pittsburgh-born Michael (Dodo) Marmarosa, an exceptionally talented pianist whose promising early career was cut short by the crushing weight of mental and emotional problems ...

47

Article: Album Review

Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra: The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra

Read "The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, co-led by pianist/composer Steven Feifke and trumpeter par excellence Bijon Watson, is a seventeen-member ensemble comprising seasoned players paired with young lions who are poised to capture pride of place. Nowhere do the leaders say who is in which group, and it would be impolitic to name them here. Suffice to ...

36

Article: Album Review

Tracye Eileen: You Hit the Spot

Read "You Hit the Spot" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

You Hit the Spot is either the third or fourth album by sultry-voiced, Chicago-based vocalist Tracye Eileen. It was recorded in two sessions: one with a trio (and audience), the other with a sextet. She gets a good head start thanks to a splendid choice of material— eight blue-chip tunes, all from the Great American Songbook. ...

41

Article: Album Review

Mike Clark, Leon Lee Dorsey: Blues on Top

Read "Blues on Top" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

While drummer Mike Clark and bassist Leon Lee Dorsey are the nominal leaders on Blues on Top, the album's subtitle —"featuring Mike LeDonne"—speaks volumes about its import and rationale. Without LeDonne at the keyboard, Clark and Dorsey would have to amplify their rhythmic talents to compensate for the absence of a secure melodic presence. Luckily, they ...

35

Article: Album Review

Chris Walden: Missa Iubileum Aureum: Golden Jubilee Jazz Mass

Read "Missa Iubileum Aureum: Golden Jubilee Jazz Mass" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

First things first: there is no doubt that Chris Walden's reverential Missa Iubileum Aureum ("Golden Jubilee Jazz Mass") is beautifully written and wonderfully performed by the LMR Jazz Orchestra, St. Dominick's Schola Cantorum and cantors Kurt Elling and Tierney Sutton. Is it jazz? That is another question, one not so easily answered. While there are elements ...

39

Article: Album Review

Jim Levendis: The Big Band Project

Read "The Big Band Project" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

Jim Levendis knew that time was running out. In his mid-seventies, the veteran Philadelphia-area trumpeter and educator had contracted ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), the effects of which were rapidly sapping his energy and ability to function. As the disease progressed, Levendis confided in Len Pierro, a band mate in the Ward Marston band, that there was ...

45

Article: Album Review

Dave Slonaker Big Band: Convergency

Read "Convergency" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

While big-band albums generally differ, sometimes widely, in tone and temperament, there are definitive criteria by which every one may be evaluated--arrangements, performers, sound quality, sequencing and, above all, the elusive but imperative swing quotient. Dave Slonaker checks all those boxes and more on Convergency, a superlative successor to his excellent Grammy-nominated debut album, Intrada, released ...

41

Article: Album Review

Thomas Linger: Out In It

Read "Out In It" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers

Any pianist who can enlist the sort of blue-chip rhythm section which Thomas Linger has for a debut album must be not only talented but unselfish, which is precisely the case on Out In It; Linger is accompanied by a trio of seasoned New York-based jazz luminaries, guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Yashushi Nakamura and drummer Joe Farnsworth. ...


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