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Freddie Bryant: Boogaloo Brasileiro
by Joel Roberts
Freddie Bryant is a busy young man with a taste for diverse musical adventures. Along with an active career as a classical guitarist, Bryant is also a current member of trumpeter Tom Harrell's quintet. And he's appeared with everyone from African pop star Salif Keita to Klezmer virtuoso Giora Fiegman. On his third CD as a ...
Askold Buk: Askold Buk
by Joel Roberts
It's hard to pinhole the music of Askold Buk. Though the highly accomplished and versatile electric guitarist (and author of several books on guitar technique) engages in some impressive improvising on this self-titled release, it's far from a straight-ahead jazz record. It's more a melange of different styles - a little rock, a little jazz, some ...
Peggy Stern: Actual Size
by Joel Roberts
Peggy Stern's charms as a pianist and composer are subtle ones. Never flashy or cliched, she takes a “less is more" approach to jazz composition and arrangement, quietly and confidently letting ideas build without smacking the listener over the head with them. Known best, perhaps, for her collaborations with Lee Konitz, Stern draws on a wide ...
Peggy Stern: Actual Size
by Joel Roberts
Peggy Stern's charms as a pianist and composer are subtle ones. Never flashy or cliched, she takes a “less is more" approach to jazz composition and arrangement, quietly and confidently letting ideas build without smacking the listener over the head with them. Known best, perhaps, for her collaborations with Lee Konitz, Stern draws on a wide ...
Barbara Adamson: Now Is The Time
by Joel Roberts
San Francisco-area vocalist Barbara Adamson's approach to jazz is straightforward and straight-ahead. Her debut recording, Now Is the Time , is a relaxed, confident effort that demonstrates the (too-often overlooked) value of restraint and moderation in jazz singing. Relying on a clear, expressive voice and dramatic reading of lyrics, Adamson, backed by a fine trio (plus ...
Deanna Witkowski: Having To Ask
by Joel Roberts
Don't confuse Deanna Witkowski's youthful exuberance for lack of musical erudition. On her spirited debut album, Having to Ask , the twenty-something pianist/singer/composer exhibits a wide-ranging musical knowledge that belies her tender years.Nearly everything Witkowski does has a strong Afro/Caribbean taste, reflecting her study with Cuban pianists like Chucho Valdes and time spent in ...
Rumba Club: Espiritista
by Joel Roberts
Rumba Club didn't just hop on the latest Latin music bandwagon. The nine-member ensemble has been playing spirited jazz and salsa around the Baltimore area for over a decade. And with any luck, Espiritista, their fine new release on the Palmetto label, will help win them more than a regional following. With a three-horn front line ...
Francesco Crosara: Colors
by Joel Roberts
On his impressive new album, Colors , Francesco Crosara proves he is a pianist with expert chops and broad interests.Born in Italy and based now in Chicago, Crosara has an awareness of world music but a firm grounding in the modern jazz vernacular. His major piano influences are unsurprising: Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. ...
Valarie Morris: Reeding Between The Lines
by Joel Roberts
This is certainly one of the more interesting CDs to find its way into my mailbox in a while. Valarie Morris is a San Francisco Bay Area composer/multi-instrumentalist who writes in an wide assortment of styles for a wide variety of ensembles. There are pieces here for solo piano; piano and voice; accordion and marimba; five ...
Tom Gullion: Cat's Cradle
by Joel Roberts
On his new album on Britain's Naim label, Chicago tenor saxophonist Tom Gullion exemplifies one of the qualities too often missing among younger jazz musicians: patience. This is a supremely self-assured, unhurried effort emphasizing mood, tone and timing over mere technique and speed. Gullion, who played in J.J. Johnson's band in his early twenties, has a ...
