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Eve Cornelious & the Chip Crawford Trio: I Feel Like Some Jazz Today
by Joel Roberts
After listening to scores of albums by new jazz artists, I've come to the conclusion that there are more bad singers out there than bad anything else -- pianists, trumpeters, etc. Singing jazz with any kind of authority is just plain hard. A decent voice is not enough -- and far from the most important aspect ...
Jeff Pittson: Go Where It's Dangerous
by Joel Roberts
A lot of jazz fans turn right off at the mere mention of electronic effects. So let's get this out of the way: While Jeff Pittson uses a full array of computers, samplers and other electronics to augment his music, this is essentially a piano album. And a pretty good one at that.Pittson's (acoustic) ...
Eric Vloeimans: Bitches and Fairy Tales
by Joel Roberts
Dutch trumpeter Eric Vloeimans' third album for the Challenge label should raise his standing on the European -- and international -- jazz scene. It also proves he can hold his own with some tough company: British pianist John Taylor, bassist Marc Johnson, and drummer Joey Baron.The 13 original compositions here are mostly quiet, impressionistic ...
Wally Schnalle: That Place
by Joel Roberts
Drummer Wally Schnalle leads an impressive West Coast ensemble on an album of what could be called “post post-bop." More precisely, it's modern, exploratory jazz that still, generally, retains melody and recognizable form.Schnalle's 11 original compositions here range from hard funk to almost-free jazz. A few of the tunes put me in mind of ...
Nicole Yarling: Joe Williams Presents Nicole Yarling At Manchester Craftsmen's Guild
by Joel Roberts
When Joe Williams puts his imprimatur on an unknown singer and uses his considerable influence to give her career a boost, it's worth paying close attention. The unknown singer (and violinist) in question is named Nicole Yarling and Williams not only sponsored her debut album, he lent his majestic voice to the project in what's billed ...
Dena DeRose: Another World
by Joel Roberts
The story goes that Dena DeRose took up singing when a hand injury kept her from playing the piano for two years. Today she probably looks on that injury as a blessing, since she has developed into one of the hottest young singer-pianists in jazz. Like the best jazz singers, from Anita O'Day to Betty Carter ...
Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls: Propaganda
by Joel Roberts
I was immediately hooked by this album's first track: a loose, free-wheelin' tune called “Geronimo's Free" that laces jazz solos over a ska backbeat, recalling the best of the Skatellites. But don't expect just one sound or style from Chicago drummer Ted Sirota and his band, the Rebel Souls. Propaganda offers a little bit of everything: ...
Marohnic, Pilafian, Hopkins Jazz Nonet: Jazz!
by Joel Roberts
With virtually the same instrumentation as Miles Davis' so-called Tuba Band - only a French horn is missing, replaced by a second trombone - the Marohnic, Pilafian, Hopkins Jazz Nonet revisits the legacy of the Davis nonet on their outstanding debut album (named, fittingly, after a Davis drawing, featured on the CD cover). Three tunes from ...
Pete McCann: Parable
by Joel Roberts
One of the best and most ambitious albums to appear last year was Tom Varner's Window Up Above, a wildly eclectic overview of the entire history of American music, from Civil War songs to Duke Ellington to Hank Williams. The guitarist on that release was Pete McCann, who brings the same broad range of musical interests ...
Mike DiRubbo: From the Inside Out
by Joel Roberts
As the title of his debut album on the Sharp Nine label suggests, alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo's musical imagination resides in that space between the mainstream and the avant-garde. It's no surprise, then, to learn that he's a former student of the great Jackie McLean, who, perhaps more than anyone, brought a tough, bebop and blues-based ...
