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The Joe La Barbera Quintet: Silver Streams
by Nicholas F. Mondello
If there is a stream of any kind that runs through Silver Streams by The Joe La Barbera Quintet, it is the flow of energy--intense to the point of ignition--that is tapped. No meandering “Old Man River," this team drinks from the source with gusto and unified creativity. That shouldn't be a surprise, since La Barbera ...
Sheila Jordan / Harvie S: Yesterdays
by Nicholas F. Mondello
With Yesterdays, singer Sheila Jordan yet again proves she can take a worn-to-a-sow's-ear standard and--voila!--turn it into a diamond-encrusted silk purse. Her partners in that magic are Harvie S and his beautifully resonating double bass--both assisting ever so deftly in the creative conversion.Offering previously unreleased material from a 1990 live performance, Jordan and S ...
The 4: One
by Nicholas F. Mondello
One is a stimulating, thought-provoking recording from The 4, a quartet of talented Italian jazz artists. It presents a variety of hip, original selections offered at tempos from slower and serene to red-line light-speed. Combined with diverse melodic and harmonic textures, One certainly offers an engaging listen.Established from the opening cut--and reinforced throughout--One is ...
Bria Skonberg: So is the Day
by Nicholas F. Mondello
It's a rare talent that can straddle--and dare request membership in--the trumpet artist continuum emanating from Louis Armstrong and progressing down through his “Neo Orleans" progeny: Byron Stripling, Wynton Marsalis and Nicholas Payton (whose big band trumpet section Skonberg graces). However, with her bravura performance on So is the Day, Bria Skonberg confirms that she is ...
Westchester Jazz Orchestra: Maiden Voyage Suite
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Imagine a painter, sculptor or writer attempting to recreate a masterpiece done by a Picasso, Michelangelo or Shakespeare. The task redefines challenge and chutzpah. While jazz recreations are more common than those in other arts--Clark Terry and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra's marvelous revisit (Americana Music, 2004) of the Miles Davis/Gil Evans' Porgy and Bess (Columbia, 1958), ...
Cathy Segal-Garcia and Yoonseung Cho: Bohemian
by Nicholas F. Mondello
The classic vocal-piano format can present itself in a myriad of ways, ranging from a more common singer-with-accompanist experience, with one melodically active and the other harmonically supportive, to a more cerebral, highly energized interplay and exploration of musical ideas. Bohemian, featuring vocalist Cathy Segal-Garcia and pianist Yoonseung Cho is an exquisite example of the latter. ...
Walt Johnson: Ladies
by Nicholas F. Mondello
The etymology of the word “troubadour" describes the term as “a singer of songs of chivalry and courtly love." If that is the case, then trumpeter Walt Johnson demonstrates that he is a trumpeting troubadour nonpareil with his marvelous CD, Ladies.Using a concept thread and a classic feel, Johnson and ensemble deliver ten beautifully ...
Noel Catura: Soulful Situation
by Nicholas F. Mondello
San Francisco Bay Area saxophonist/flautist Noel Catura's debut, Soulful Situation, is about as smooth and soulful a debut as possible. Unlike some smooth jazz recordings--passionless, contrived, and delivered as easy listening jazz for the masses--Catura and crew withhold little in terms of expression and energy on this collection of eight original compositions. The ...
Deborah Winters: Lovers After All
by Nicholas F. Mondello
In his entertaining and impeccably researched book, Sessions with Sinatra (Chicago Review Press, 2004), author Charles Granata details the intricate in-studio mechanics and all-important chemistry behind some of the greatest recorded vocal performances of our time. The unique balance of Frank Sinatra's talent, sophisticated arrangements, great tunes and phenomenal musicians made those recordings classics.On ...
Brian Patneaude: All Around Us
by Nicholas F. Mondello
With All Around Us saxophonist Brian Patneaude delivers a bravura performance as both artist and composer. This superior effort shouts breakthrough for this talented, but not widely known, New York Capital District saxophonist and his crew. The session offers eight brilliantly performed straight-ahead jazz compositions, of which six emanate from Patneaude's pen. Patneaude ...
