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Mary Ellen Desmond: Comfort and Joy 2020 Virtual Stream
by Victor L. Schermer
Mary Ellen Desmond Comfort and Joy: Virtual Stream Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany Philadelphia, PA December 13, 2020 In the course of two decades as a jazz reviewer in Philadelphia, it has often been my pleasure to hear Mary Ellen Desmond sing, and for ...
Fill In The Gap
Album: The Third Quarter
By Len Pierro
Label: WalkingPath Records
Released: 2020
Duration: 04:28
Mike Melito/Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
by Jack Bowers
The album cover says Mike Melito / Dino Losito Quartet." What it does not say is that drummer Melito and pianist Losito have at their beck-and-call an awesome secret weapon, Philadelphia-based tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna, a phenom from the Lester Young school of elegant swinging whose voice on the horn is as debonair and persuasive as ...
The Mike Melito / Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
by David A. Orthmann
Moderation is a virtue which pervades You're It!, a date co-led by drummer Mike Melito and pianist Dino Losito. It is a pleasure--and a reliefto hear a bop-influenced recording in which jazzmen (three in their middle years and one octogenarian) transcend influences and forge their own standards of performance. The record is impressive in part because ...
Susie Meissner: I Wish I Knew
by Jack Bowers
I wish I knew why the talented Philadelphia-based singer Susie Meissner chose to open her salute to the Great American Songbook with the only tune on the album that doesn't really qualify: Curtis Lewis' The Great City." It's not a bad song but Cole Porter or Johnny Mandel it ain't. On the bright side, Meissner recovers ...
The Mike Melito/Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
by Pierre Giroux
The bold-face names on this release are drummer Mike Melito and pianist Dino Losito. However, the name of the performer treasure is buried in quasi-mice type on the bottom of the front cover, and that is tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna. He is the difference maker. The two principals are from upstate New York and ...
Susie Meissner: I Wish I Knew
by C. Michael Bailey
Over the past decade and three previous recordings, Philadelphia-based vocalist Susie Meissner has crafted an intelligently conceived and thoughtfully paced survey of the Great American Songbook. Meissner's considerations of the standard jazz repertoire, in concert with pianist John Shaddy's sturdy arrangements and educated performance manner, have emerged, evolving from chaste and reverent beginnings, into rich and ...
Charlie Parker: In Praise of Bird on His 100th Birthday!
by Victor L. Schermer
A hundred years ago, on August 29, 1920, soon after jazz was born, Charlie Parker came into this world, and in the 35 years of a life cut short by addictions and impulse-driven living, he changed the face of the music. His innovations as one of the creators of bebop and his stunning sound and virtuosic ...
Diane Schuur, Scott Joplin, Carmen Lundy and More!
by Joe Dimino
This week we open with Jazz legend Diane Schuur who shares how she is living with the COVID-19 jazz shutdown and talks about her new upcoming CD Running on Faith. Prior to the silence of live jazz, we caught up with Jae Sinnett to discuss a rich life in music and his latest album. Enjoy the ...

