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Richard Wyands: As Long As There's Music
by Mike Neely
With the help of several independent labels and some of the best bassists and drummers in the business, Richard Wyands has been quietly building a superb body of jazz piano trio recordings. Amazing enough, As Long As There’s Music is his first American recording as a leader. Other trio recordings have been released by European labels ...
Chuck Wayne: Morning Mist
by Mike Neely
Chuck Wayne has long been a jazz connoisseur’s musician whose ability and technique has always outclassed guitarists with much larger reputations. Popularity seems never to have been Wayne’s primary focus; for decades he simply consistently did a first rate job in the studios and on stage, as both a sideman and as a leader. His music ...
John Sheridan and his Dream Band: Get Rhythm in Your Feet
by Mike Neely
If you like swing music, you ought to check out John Sheridan and his Dream Band. Get Rhythm in Your Feet is the third recording from this spirited octet that can boast of excellent soloists, elegant arrangements, and a chemistry that could only have been cooked up in a very hip kitchen. Vocalist Becky Kilgore has ...
Eric Dolphy: The Complete Prestige Recordings
by Mike Neely
Eric Dolphy was no ordinary musical talent. While attending junior high school Dolphy was offered a scholarship to the University of Southern California School of Music. His parents subsequently renovated a garage into a rehearsal studio on their modest Los Angeles city lot, a studio that would host the sounds of Gerald Wilson, Buddy Collette, Max ...
John Mayall: The Turning Point
by Mike Neely
John Mayall's position in the British Blues world of the 1960's was akin to Art Blakey's position in the North American jazz scene. Both were gifted discoverers and developers of talent in addition to being notable musicians. At various times, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, John McVie, and Jack Bruce were members of Mayall's ever changing band. ...
Odetta: Lookin For A Home
by Mike Neely
In 2000 Odetta released a marvelous comeback album entitled Blues Everywhere I Go that was nominated for a Grammy Award. Her recent follow-up album, Lookin For A Home: Thanks to Leadbelly, is every bit as good, perhaps even better. A tight band has gotten even tighter and Odetta’s comfort level with these musicians is something to ...
Don Byas: Don Byas: Complete American Small Group Recordings
by Mike Neely
Oklahoma born tenor saxophonist Don Byas moved easily between swing and bebop with an earthy, blues sound that brings to mind Coleman Hawkins but with a lightness of touch and rhythmic agility reminiscent of Lester Young. He successfully synthesized these two influences, in many ways updating them into the bebop era. Byas mastered the breathtaking tempos ...
The Four Bags: The Four Bags
by Mike Neely
The Four Bags is delightfully demented group with a tongue in cheek humor that sometimes has a way of distracting the listener from how good these bags really are. The Four Bags include an accordionist, a trombonist, a guitarist, and a sax & clarinetist. Besides this odd instrumentation they also have an oddly eclectic sense of ...
James P. Johnson: The Original James P. Johnson: 1942-1945 piano solos
by Mike Neely
The Original James P. Johnson goes a long way toward summing up the early history of jazz piano. The early jazz singer Ethel Waters stated, “ All the hits you hear, now as then, originated with musicians like James P. Johnson . . . the rest of the hot piano boys . . . just followers ...
The Johnny Varro Swing Seven: The Johnny Varro Swing Seven: Swingin' on 57th Street
by Mike Neely
The Johnny Varro Swing Seven: Swingin’ on West 57th Street is a bright, upbeat septet recording that presents a band with distinctive soloists and a superb rhythm section. Johnny Varro on piano, Michael Moore on bass, and Joe Ascione on drums, are about as good a rhythm section as there exists in traditional jazz, precise and ...
