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Results for "Kari-On Productions"
L. Zaide: Planet Chill: Memoirs of a Jazz Band
by Dan McClenaghan
The black CD cover, the dark sunglasses, the singer's scowling face eclipsed by shadow--a sort of Meet the Beatles shot, minus three, with a big dose of new millennium attitude. You might think you were in for some obstreperous rap sounds. But L. Zaide's Planet Chill showcases the velvet-voiced singer, embracing, with reverence, ten American Songbook ...
Tonic: It Ain't Over 'til the Fat Man Swings
by Dan McClenaghan
These are some snazzy sounds, and given this is Christmas music, the “fat man" in the title would be, of course, Santa Claus.At the risk of sounding Scrooge-ish, you have to pick your holiday sounds carefully in order to avoid the sap factor. The members of Tonic--a group comprised of vocalists Steve and Karen ...
Matt Belzer: Connections
by Dan McClenaghan
Connections, featuring seven tunes from the pen of composer/reedman Matt Belzer, opens on a jazz/rock groove--in front of some cool and gorgeous and very unrock-like sax/clarinet harmonies. On a flow of gentle propulsion, “Deep Focus" immediately engages the listener while delving into deeper musical layerings. It's an excellent and approachable introduction to Belzer's original concepts.
Amy Banks: When the Sun Comes Out
by Dan McClenaghan
Vocalist Amy Banks' third CD, When the Sun Comes Out, spun into a jukebox mode for me. Put a quarter in, play your favorite tune. Back in the early sixties, it was noted that people would play the same song over and over again on these “boxes," a phenomenon that greatly influenced pop/rock radio programming of ...
Matt Criscuolo: Lotus Blossom
by Dan McClenaghan
Alto saxophonist Matt Criscuolo's sound strikes me as quite distinctive on his second release, Lotus Blossom. The opening title tune is Billy Strayhorn's lovely, wistful composition, featuring Criscuolo dueting with pianist Larry Willis. The altoist's tone has a tart tang, like a drink of lemonade a wee bit short--bracingly so--on the sugar. The underrated veteran saxman ...
Perry Conticchio: Speak Your Truth
by Dan McClenaghan
In the “saxophone with rhythm section" category, the key to distinction relies as much on the artist's frame of mind as it does superior musicianship. One of the saxophone giants of yesteryear, Dexter Gordon, had the chops, of course, on a series of splendid Blue Note albums in the sixties, with an extroverted, muscular, coming-right-at-you story-telling ...
Herb Silverstein: Beach Walker
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Herb Silverstein has a day job that makes for a good story to go along with the music he makes on Beach Walker. But music first...This set of twelve original compositions, delivered by Silverstein on piano, plus guitar, sax, bass and drums, has a vibrant straight-ahead glow, a bit on the cerebral--yet still ...
Belinda Underwood: Underwood Uncurling
by Dan McClenaghan
Portland, Oregon-based vocalist/bassist Belinda Underwood opens her debut with Mel Torme's “Born To Be Blue," employing a vocal style that seems a curious mixture of coy guilelessness and sultry sensuality. Not bad for someone who started as an instrumentalist--bass, violin, baritone ukulele, piano, harp--and then started singing late in the game because she couldn't make her ...
Bruce A. Henry: Connections
by Dan McClenaghan
Back in this fan's formative listening years, the record racks had a section that carried the label “Rhythm & Blues." There you'd find everything from early Motown--Smoky Robinson and the Marvelettes, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Marvin and Tammi, the Temptations and the Supremes; and from other labels specializing in “soul sounds": Gene McDaniels, Wilson Pickett, ...
Alexandra Caselli: Out the Aquarium
by C. Michael Bailey
With a cosmopolitan name like Alexandra Caselli, how can one go wrong? Add to that great name the classical heritage of Muzio Clementi, the impressionistic philosophy of Lynne Arriale (by way of Bill Evans), and a great ear for melody, and you have the total package that is Ms. Caselli. Out The Aquarium is Caselli's new ...
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