Home » Search Center » Results: King Pleasure
Results for "King Pleasure"
Jenny Davis: Inside You
by C. Michael Bailey
Jenny Davis' It Amazes Me (Self Produced, 2006) was a relaxed tuneful affair employing a crack quintet capable of multiple layers of musicianship. For Inside You, Davis whittles her quintet to a duo, featuring her regular guitarist Chuck Easton, and bassist Ted Enderle, furnishing a stripped-down swing that depends on its own momentum with which to ...
Lutalo Olutosin: Tribute to Greatness
by C. Michael Bailey
Vocalese is the pinnacle of jazz singing; a jazz singing style based on lyrics composed to melodies that were originally part of non-vocal compositions or improvisations. There are only a handful of truly proficient vocalese lyricists, a short list including Eddie Jefferson, Babs Gonzales, King Pleasure (Clarence Beeks), Jon Hendricks, and Mark Murphy. East Chicago native ...
Chris Tedesco: Living the Dream
by Nicholas F. Mondello
In Living the Dream Los Angeles-based trumpeter/contractor/producer Chris Tedesco proves that he is a consummate multi-tasker. He leads his L.A. Jazz Big Band and Orchestra admirably, contracted the sessions, arranged a selection, composed four originals, engineered, edited, and produced the CD. The result of this array of endeavors is a slick, swinging, throwback salute to hip, ...
Roberta Gambarini: Learning to Love Jazz
by Samuel Chell
Not long ago a veteran Chicago jazz disc jockey played a track from a female vocalist's new CD only after complaining on the air about the seemingly unending stream of new recordings by female singers sent to his notice each week. The exception to his policy not to play them was due, he explained, to the ...
The Sisterhood Of Saxophone Players: Sharel Cassity, Nancy Wright and Pattie Cossentino
by C. Michael Bailey
Once a novelty, women saxophone players have been claiming center stage in the last twenty years. Virginia Mayhew, Idit Shner, Clair Daly and Christine Jensen are among the most notable artists in this sisterhood. Add to this list three more names to consider. Sharel CassityJust for YouDW Records2009 Sharel Cassity ...
Deborah Brown: Jazz Diva Extraordinaire
by Victor L. Schermer
Deborah Brown is one of the finest jazz vocalists in the business, a “singer's singer" with a magnificent voice and mind-boggling technique. Vocalist J.D. Walter mentioned her as an inspirational teacher and mentor in a recent AAJ interview but, despite being very possibly one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, due to her own ...
J.D. Walter: Being a Verb
by Victor L. Schermer
J.D. Walter is a jazz singers' singer--a purist and an innovator. Although his style has been compared to many vocal titans, it is in the same breath, uniquely his own, and he has become a singular phenomenon on the music scene. Respected and lauded by the great musicians of the contemporary circuit, ...
L.A. Jazz Scene 2008: Alive and Swingin'
by Chuck Koton
The Los Angeles scene has often been referred to in patronizing terms by jazz lovers, musicians and writers. It has been said that the city's laid-back vibe deprives musicians of the energy that a New York audience can impart to the bandstand. Others complain that the growth of a hip jazz scene has been impeded by ...
