Results for "RAUL MIDÓN"

Raul Midon

Along with his 11 studio albums as a solo artist, Midón – dubbed “an eclectic adventurist” by People magazine – has collaborated with such heroes as Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers, along with contributing to records by Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg and the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s She Hate Me. A native of New Mexico who now lives in Maryland after years in New York, Midón has earned acclaim the world over, with a fanbase that stretches from San Francisco to India, Amsterdam to Tokyo. Marveling over his live performances, The New York Times has called Midón “a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus.” He recently performed in a special Homecoming Week music series at his alma mater, the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music

It Takes a Spark to Start a Fire

By Chicago Soul Jazz Collective

Label: JMARQ
Released: 2020
Track listing: Detroit will rise again; Down and out in Buffalo; It takes a spar to start a fire; Her eyes are blue and sometimes gray; God bless the patient; Where do you go when you dream; Nora calls from the moon

Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn

Label: Sunnyside Records
Released: 2020
Track listing: Johnny Come Lately; Lush Life; Rain Check; Star-Crossed Lovers (Pretty Girl); Isfahan (Elf); Chelsea Bridge; Daydream; Passion Flower; U.M.M.G.; Blood Count; Take The A Train; A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing; Absinthe (Lament For An Orchid); Lotus Blossom.

Chicago Soul Jazz Collective: It Takes a Spark to Start a Fire

by John Pietaro
December 5, 2020

Solace. Listening to classic 1960s soul-jazz as an escape from today's stresses united the musicians who founded the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective. Many of us know of that comfort, the one carried by a cursory view of nostalgia. But don't look too close. Tenor saxophonist John Fournier and trumpet player Marques Carroll built a band on ...

Raul Midon: Flamenco’s Fire Into The Cool

by John Pietaro
June 21, 2020

Leaning into the tenacious chordal structure of “Bad Ass and Blind," Raul Midon's surging flurries, stinging dyads and whirling solos over nylon strings speak with artful determination. His vocals and guitar in aerial unison can be intoxicating. In his voice one hears terse vibrato, a searching, spiritual tone and the strain of hardship. Celebrated. For the ...

John DiMartino: Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
May 25, 2020

Pianist/composer/arranger/producer John DiMartino is a first-call veteran of the New York City jazz scene. This multi-recorded artist has long been a favorite of singers for his gigantic ears and intuitive, uncluttered playing—rare gifts which also enhance any instrumentalist he accompanies or arranges. All of these talents inform DiMartino's splendid Billy Strayhorn tribute, Passion Flower, where he ...

Composer Tributes: Strayhorn, Shorter, Monk and Sam Jones

by Jerome Wilson
May 22, 2020

There always seem to be albums coming out that pay tribute to accomplished jazz composers. Here are some newer ones, three on very familiar names and one on an often overlooked musician. John Di Martino Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn Sunnyside Records 2020 Pianist John ...

John di Martino: Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn

by Jack Bowers
April 30, 2020

Composer / arranger Billy Strayhorn was barely twenty-three years old when he first met bandleader Duke Ellington, an encounter that would lead to a collaboration that lasted more than half of Strayhorn's life. During that time, Strayhorn wrote some of the Ellington orchestra's most acclaimed and enduring songs including “Lotus Blossom," “Chelsea Bridge," “Isfahan" and, most ...

John Di Martino: Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn

by Dan Bilawsky
April 17, 2020

When esophageal cancer took Billy Strayhorn's life in 1967, his work and legacy rested squarely in the shadow of Duke Ellington's world. More than half a century later, though the two figures remain inextricably linked, Strayhorn's genius has moved past the penumbra of his legendary collaborator and employer, occupying its own clear place in the jazz ...

Gary Alesbrook: The Stories We Tell Ourselves

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
November 25, 2019

It's hard to believe this is only trumpeter Gary Alesbrook's second record under his own name. Like Venus emerging fully-formed from the head of Zeus, Alesbrook's tasteful proficiency is truly startling until you realize it was honed outside of jazz, with years of busy sideman efforts in other types of music. Another surprise is ...