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Talent, Tenacity, Tequila & a Tale of Two Texas Teenagers
by Alan Bryson
Train to Nowhere “Train to Nowhere" by Dave Dupree was the aptly named single released by Challenge Records on January 15, 1958. Newly founded by Gene Autrey, “The Singing Cowboy" of Hollywood fame, the Los Angeles based label was looking to land its first hit record. The single itself was on the road to “nowhere" until ...
Dexter Payne: All Things, All Beings
by Chris M. Slawecki
Clarinet, harmonica and saxophonist, composer and bandleader and musical globetrotter Dexter Payne is the type of musician who is most often categorized as “difficult to categorize." Profoundly influenced by physical and spiritual journeys through the cultures of America, the Middle East, Africa and Brazil, Payne's recorded output checks off every box from Mississippi delta blues to ...
Q4: Uphill Struggle
by Roger Farbey
Saxophone quartets are a relatively infrequent phenomenon in jazz. Perhaps the last one to cause a stir was the Delta Saxophone Quartet whose albums Crimson! (Basho Records, 2016) and Bowie, Berlin & Beyond (FMR Records, 2018) offered new perspectives on the music of King Crimson and David Bowie respectively. But even the DSQ relied on occasional ...
Laurence Hobgood: Tesseterra
by Roger Farbey
"Jazz with strings" is a phrase that sometimes invokes a heart-sink feeling amongst reviewers. Happily this is not one of those occasions. Laurence Hobgood has released a half dozen records under his own name but many more for vocalist Kurt Elling with whom he's been musical director, co-producer and accompanist for over twenty years. During that ...
Ten Artists: April 2019
by C. Michael Bailey
Claudia Vorbach Is There a Time? Phoneector 2018 Claudia Vorbach follows up Come Down Easy (Phoneector, 2016) with these 14 smart original compositions infused with the swagger of a confident composer/singer. At first blush, Vorbach sounds like a relaxed Nora Jones, playfully whimsical and vocally daring. Vorbach sings with an assured ...
Matt Davis: Big Family, Big Picture
by Dan Bilawsky
If there's a defining trait to be found in the value system guiding guitarist Matt Davis and his music, it's most definitely a healthy respect and admiration for kith and kin. A love of community and belonging drives nearly every aspect of this artist's life, including his flagship ensemble, Matt Davis' Aerial Photograph, and it speaks ...
Brilliant Corners 2019
by Ian Patterson
Brilliant Corners 2019 The Black Box/Sonic Lab Belfast, N. Ireland March 2-9, 2019 For many years the words brilliant, jazz and Belfast rarely appeared in the same sentence. That all changed in 2013 when music promoters Moving On Music launched Brilliant Corners, subtitled A Festival of Jazz in Belfast. Since then, ...
Kenny Carr: Departure
by Geannine Reid
Guitarist Kenny Carr attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. In his final year he got the call to audition for Ray Charles. Carr toured worldwide with Charles for ten years and played lead guitar for Charles' recordings Just Between Us (Sony, 1990) and Live at Montreux (Eagle Rock, 1997). Carr has enjoyed a ...
Michael Kocour: East Of The Sun
by Jack Bowers
Here's another well-planned and immaculately recorded solo album by pianist Michael Kocour, his second such enterprise for OA2 Records (the first, Wherever You Go, There You Are, was released in 2015). As its title suggests, East of the Sun consists almost entirely of gems from the Great American Songbook with one zircon (guitarist Don Gibson's “I ...
Chuck Deardorf: Perception
by Paul Rauch
Before the tech revolution that has ushered in an era of unprecedented growth and global recognition, the city of Seattle was a bit of an outpost in the world of jazz. Since the 1920s, the city has enjoyed a vibrant and innovative jazz scene, often resulting in local musicians backing major international touring artists. The emerald ...
