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Results for "Mark Sabbatini"
Hacking the Holidays: Obscure and Unusual Albums from Online Stores
by Mark Sabbatini
After a while, even Bob Rivers' Twisted Christmas series doesn't seem novel any longer. Holiday recordings are usually either safe albums designed to maximize annual sales to mainstream audiences or outlandish experiments designed to generate quick (if not lasting) sales through shock and/or wit. Finding quality artistry, or even stuff that's lousy because it ...
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Everything You Want For Christmas
by Mark Sabbatini
Even as a ho-hum host, it's hard not to have fun at a Big Bad Voodoo Party. Everything You Want For Christmas may not quite live up to its name, but it's a lively and reliable collection for those holiday mixers. The band adopts the eleven songs reasonably well to their horn-heavy modern ...
Yaniv Nachum Quartet
by Mark Sabbatini
They can claim all the elaborate world music influences they want to, but the ultimate result is these guys simply rock. The Yaniv Nachum Quartet is a European-based group formed in 2001, featuring players from Israel, Germany and France whose style, according to the imperfect English at its Web site, “varies from traditional jazz, ...
SXSW at the Elephant Room
by Mark Sabbatini
Among all the voices clamoring to be the “new direction of jazz," the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is one of a relative few that can speak with authority. The Tulsa-based trio made their debut on the Downbeat critics poll last fall in the “Rising Star, Electric Band" category, a testament to their perseverance and ...
A Gift From The Internet: Free Holiday Music
by Mark Sabbatini
Those dreading malls in December, perhaps so much so that shopping remains unfinished Christmas morning, the Internet offers the sweet sound of salvation. Holiday music, both free and commercial, is one of the easiest to find from multitudes of online sources, offering a chance to relax rather than shop the day after Thanksgiving or ...
Nelson Rangell: All I Hope For Christmas
by Mark Sabbatini
This is a holiday album that achieves nirvana--a state of perfect musical nothingness. Saxophonist Nelson Rangell's All I Hope For Christmas isn't good enough to excite, bad enough to disappoint, or novel enough to inspire any other emotions. It's a shade above mall music fodder, but even more accomplished moments will sound immediately recognizable ...
Peter Lipa: Beatles In Blue(s)
by Mark Sabbatini
There's two ways to really enjoy the Beatles: 1) play the real thing; or 2) listen to covers like William Shatner's “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" or Jim Carey's “I Am The Walrus." A few artists successfully record quality versions of songs by the Fab Four, but it's a rare and risky proposition. ...
Jacques Loussier: Allegretto From Symphony No. 7: Themes And Variations
by Mark Sabbatini
Oh, the joys of depressing music. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 is one of the finest “downer" compositions ever and a collection of jazz variations on it seems like a can't-miss prospect. The base material is so strong it's like a prime steak--hard to go wrong no matter how it's treated (unless, egad, someone boils ...
Jon Lundbom: Big Five Chord
by Mark Sabbatini
Guitarist Jon Lundbom achieves his goal of breaking a few molds in a promising debut album, if not always as intended. Big Five Chord is a modern free jazz outing whose attempts to sound unconventional often are all-too-conventional--and vice versa. It's decent overall, but it may not propel the New York club veteran onto the national ...
Matthew Shipp: Harmony And Abyss
by Mark Sabbatini
It's a fairly established music principle: Give Wayne Shorter a cheap student sax and he still sounds like a master. Give Ashlee Simpson a “booster" vocal and she still sounds awful. Gadgets and technology are great, in other words, but don't forget humility pills if the talent isn't there. Pianist Matthew Shipp digs deeper ...
