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Eric Reed: Merry Magic
by Celeste Sunderland
The best kinds of holiday albums are the ones that offer a diverse selection of songs while holding true to the theme. Pianist Eric Reed's new Christmas disc Merry Magic combines hard-swinging bebop with slow, graceful ballads, a little Latin spice, and evangelical organ. It culls up all the emotions of the season, from childlike anticipation ...
Jeremy Pelt: Close to My Heart
by C. Michael Bailey
Jeremy Pelt has the most beautiful trumpet tone exercised today. One needs to listen no further than his cover of Mingus' “Weird Nightmare," where one cannot distinguish his trumpet from his flugelhorn, save for a period in the middle section. On this piece, Mr. Pelt's tone is round and buttery warm in the first and third ...
Geoffrey Keezer: Falling Up
by C. Michael Bailey
Geoffrey Keezer has as a distinction being the penultimate pianist to perform in the Ray Brown Trio before the bassist’s death in 2002. He is a durable stylist with a big orchestral sound that he provided for the late Brown on recordings such as Live at Starbucks and Walk On . Mr. Keezer has also released ...
Jeremy Pelt: Close To My Heart
by Norman Weinstein
There's been a noble tradition of young jazz trumpeters recording with strings – think of Clifford Brown and Chet Baker – and 27 year old Jeremy Pelt puts his very individual spin on this tradition with the release of Close to My Heart, his third album. He shares some affinities with Clifford Brown: a bright crip ...
Ren: Live at Jazz Standard
by Jack Bowers
Have you ever had someone say to you, “You really missed your calling”? Well, René Marie (no last name given, and none necessary) really did miss hers. Happily for René Marie and those who’ve heard her sing, either live or on record, she was able to find it. Better late than never. René Marie always wanted ...
Patti Wicks: Love Locked Out
by C. Michael Bailey
Shirley Horn, Diana Krall, Patricia Barber, Norah Jones. The piano chanteuse is swinging into vogue in a major way. A smart move that the newest series in the MAXJAZZ arsenal is the vocal- piano series, and even smarter that the label elected Patti Wicks for its inaugural outing. Patti Wicks demonstrated an acute musical ...
Steve Wilson: Soulful Sound
by C. Michael Bailey
MaxJazz, once touted as a "boutique label," now can boast being a full fledged jazz label with a vision. Beginning with the Vocal Series, then the Piano Series, and now the Horn Series, the label continues to pave new inroads into jazz performance and marketing. Inaugurating the new Horn Series is multi-instrumentalist Steve Wilson. But after ...
Steve Wilson: Soulful Song
by Jim Santella
Saxophonist Steve Wilson's extensive experience with the Mingus Big Band and Chick Corea's Origin make up only a shadow of the vast array of musical influences on his definition of jazz. His career has carried him to all facets of the jazz world: some adventurous and some laid back. Soulful Song represents a theme. The leader ...
Jessica Williams: All Alone
by Terrell Kent Holmes
Pianist Jessica Williams follows up on last year's trio outing This Side Up with All Alone, a collection of standards and originals for solo piano that she plays with great imagination and dexterity. And when Williams plays, she doesn't play around, taking on all-time champion composers like Ellington, Mingus, and Irving Berlin. The ...
Bruce Barth: Live At The Village Vanguard
by Jim Santella
On Live At The Village Vanguard, Cole Porter’s “In The Still Of The Night” charges straight ahead with the zip, the zig, and the zag of a hound dog chasing a rabbit through open sagebrush. While Bruce Barth is totally unpredictable in places, he is sure to bring back the familiar melody to us before we ...
