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Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge: Within Us
by Jack Bowers
Any big band celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary has earned a triumph surpassing most others. To mark the occasion with an album as admirable as this one is icing on the celebratory cake. The fact is, composer/arranger Chuck Owen's Florida-based Jazz Surge, formed in 1995, shows no signs of aging or becoming obsolete. Thanks to Owen's broad-beamed ...
Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios: Songs from My Father
by Jack Bowers
Songs from My Father. What a marvelous idea!—and not simply for the sentiment. Drummer Gerry Gibbs' father happens to be Hall of Fame vibraphonist (and sometime song writer) Terry Gibbs, who is still on the scene at ninety-seven (and, in fact, making a guest appearance on the first disc of this superlative two-CD set). Eighteen of ...
Steve Million: What I Meant to Say
by Jack Bowers
A word that springs to mind when listening to pianist Steve Million's quartet is “tasteful." If the music sounds congenial as well, that is probably because “four friends" are performing it. Two of them (guitarist Steve Cardenas, drummer Ron Vincent) were among the Kansas City-based friends who comprised Million's quartet in that city before he moved ...
Jared Hall: Seen on the Scene
by Jack Bowers
Seen on the Scene, Seattle-based trumpeter Jared Hall's second album as a leader, has a lot going for it: tight-knit group unity and tasteful dynamics; bright, technically polished solos by all hands; and engaging tunes by Hall and the late bop master, Tadd Dameron. As a bonus, the acclaimed alto saxophonist Vincent Herring is “on the ...
Pamai Chirdkiatisak: Dreamer
by Jack Bowers
“Music is a universal language." “Jazz transcends bloodlines and borders." Listening to guitarist Pamai Chirdkiatisak's debut album, Dreamer, one quickly realizes that those phrases are more than mere slogans or platitudes. The fact that Chirdkiatisak's admirable quartet is based in Bangkok, Thailand, is apparent only when reading the album ...
Junichiro Mataga: Sketches
by Jack Bowers
Sketches, the U.S. debut recording by Japanese-born, New York-based pianist/composer Junichiro Mataga, encompasses nearly an hour of genial contemporary jazz ably performed by Mataga, bassist Yoshiki Yamada and drummer Yosuke Nagayama. Even though he was quite busy as a leader and sideman in Tokyo, Mataga decided in 2019 to move to New York City to study ...
Stan Kenton and His Orchestra: Concert on the Pacific
by Jack Bowers
The Stan Kenton Orchestra's Concert on the Pacific is actually a compendium of several concerts recorded between January and March 1958 at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California—a series that almost emptied Kenton's wallet and caused him to pause and regroup a year or so later. While this was post-Rosolino/Sims/Konitz/Levey, the Kenton Orchestra was never without ...
Kendall Carter: Introducing Kendall Carter
by Jack Bowers
Listening to Kentucky-bred organist Kendall Carter's debut album, aptly titled Introducing Kendall Carter, is akin to taking a pleasant stroll through a park on a warm and sunny day. While Carter is technically flawless, he doesn't overwhelm the listener with waves of sound but plays organ from a pianist's point of view, sacrificing sheer volume on ...
Alex Collins/Ryan Berg/Karl Latham: Together
by Jack Bowers
Together—what a splendid title for a piano-led trio whose members work hand-in-glove from start to finish on an album whose music may seem familiar but is approached from various garden-fresh angles and avenues by pianist Alex Collins, bassist Ryan Berg and drummer Karl Latham, who always keep the keynotes ingenious and engaging. Collins, the melodic ringmaster, ...
Bob Mintzer & WDR Big Band Cologne: Soundscapes
by Jack Bowers
Saxophonist Bob Mintzer, a New Yorker who left home long ago to see the world, is a professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and chief conductor of the world-class WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany, with whom he has recorded Soundscapes, a luminous showcase for his singular talents ...
