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Jake Fryer/Bud Shank Quintet - In Good Company (2011)
By Pico Just prior to kickoff for the Fiesta Bowl played the other day between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Connecticut Huskies, the sad story was told about the starting UConn cornerback who was senselessly stabbed to death during the prior football season. The night before to his murder, Jasper Howard and his teammates celebrated a ...
A Confession in Triplicate: Spyro Gyra, Guilty Pleasure
By Something Else Reviews We attempted to give ourselves some cover by assuring one another that Spyro Gyra started out more in the vein of Weather Report than, say, David Sanborn. We really did. But, after pulling out the actual albums, it didn't take long to see how baldly ridiculous that premise so quickly became. Spyro ...
Big Apple Blues - Brooklyn Blues (2010)
By Nick DeRiso Big Apple Blues came by this vintage sound honestly. They put down tracks for Brooklyn Blues in an old hometown studio, Excello Recording, playing live before analog equipment on throwback instruments. Then they picked out a series of cuts by giants of the genre. Included on this Stone Tone release are covers of ...
Gerry Rafferty (1947-2010): An Appreciation
Editor's note: Here's a repost of our review of 1978's City to City By Gerry Rafferty, who died today in London from liver failure after a lengthy battle with alcoholism. Rafferty scored Top 10 hits first with Stealers Wheel ("Stuck in the Middle") and then with his own Baker Street" from this recording.City to City sold ...
Unsigned Treasures: The Shamus Twins - Garden of Weeds (2010)
By Nick DeRiso Equal parts Summer of Love songcraft and heartland soul, the Shamus Twins' Garden of Weeds is as apt to jangle as it is to twang. That's reflective of the Los Angeles-based band's founders, guitarist Jerry Juden and bassist Tim Morrow, two halves of the same genre-busting whole. They take turns with songwriting duties, ...
Mike DiRubbo - Chronos (2011)
By Pico The beginning of the year is usually a quiet period for music releases. Coming on the heels of the frantic holiday shopping season and the various best of (prior) year lists" that assist in yuletide purchasing decisions, you'd think there wouldn't be anything worthwhile coming out between mid-December and, say, March. But one of ...
Gimme Five: 80's Fusion Albums That Don't Suck
The late Don Grolnick made only one fusion record, but it was a real beaut. By Pico Ahhh, the 80s. Big hair, big synthesizer sounds and programmed beats. That didn't just happen with pop and rock, some of these trends seeped into contemporary jazz, too. This was the decade when much of what was considered fusion ...
David Cook - Pathway (2010)
By Pico David Cook is a recent addition to the burgeoning young talent that's filling up the roster at Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records, and like his new labelmates, this pianist comes to BJU Records with an abundance of experience. Already, he's worked with Lizz Wright, Donny McCaslin, Dennis Chambers, John Ellis, Matt Wilson and even big-time ...
Forgotten Series: Tab Benoit - Wetlands (2002)
By Pico Ten years before Wetlands, a young Cajun kid from Baton Rouge walked into a Houston studio and produced some of the most refreshingly honest rock-tinged swamp blues ever heard. Yet, one worried that Benoit would go the way of may bluesmen who've tasted success and eventually dilute the pure sound of 1992's Nice And ...
One Track Mind: Nancy Wilson, "What Are You Doing New Year's?" (1963)
By Nick DeRiso A lot of singers have sung this one, from Nat King" Cole and Johnny Mathis to Diana Krall and the Orioles, the post-war R&B vocal quartet. For me, though, Nancy Wilson's has always been the definitive reading. She nails the sense of hopeful anxiety that surrounds Dec. 31 every year, even while continuing ...

