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Garage A Trois: Outre Mer
by Stephen Latessa
Garage A Trois' Outre Mer is the soundtrack to an as yet unreleased French film of the same name. The band, consisting of Mike Dillon (percussion, vibraphone), Charlie Hunter (eight-string guitar, pandero), Stanton Moore (drums, polyrhythms), and Skerik (saxophone), lays down surging funk-influenced tunes, tempered by the intricate delicacy of vibraphone and guitar. The ...
Todd Mussman: File Under Jazz
by Stephen Latessa
With guitarist Todd Mussman, you essentially get two musicians for the price of one. Playing an eight-string guitar, Mussman has the ability to play both the bass line and guitar part at the same time. Add drummer Chris Parker and you have a duo ably playing the role of a trio. If that sounds ...
The Frank & Joe Show: 66 2/3
by Stephen Latessa
66 2/3 is an eclectic collection equally at home with standards like “Manhattan and “It Might As Well Be Swing and classical pieces like a Bach violin concerto. The Frank and Joe Show, led by guitarist Frank Vignola and percussionist Joe Ascione, is comprised of ace players who can mix heady technique with an appreciation for ...
Terry Gibbs: Feelin' Good: Live In The Studio
by Stephen Latessa
After a while you learn there are very few sure things in this world. The team with the highest payroll and all-stars manning every position does not win the World Series every year. In fact, sometimes teams comprised of players who can be charitably described as nobodies even sweep them. Like they say, that's why you ...
Hallgeir Pedersen Trio: Wistful
by Stephen Latessa
Wistful is a fine title for this album by the Hallgeir Pedersen Trio. Led by guitarist Pedersen and featuring bassist Bjørn Alterhaug and drummer Trond Sverre Hansen, the trio maintains a quiet mood of reflection throughout the disc. What the album lacks in stylistic diversity is made up by its unified, almost meditative performances. ...
Michael O'Neill Quintet: The Long and the Short of It
by Stephen Latessa
On The Long and the Short of It, the Bay Area-based Michael O'Neill Quintet has devised a unique role for featured singer Kenny Washington. Washington sings a number of standards in a fairly straightforward manner, but on the originals by O'Neill, he is essentially used as another horn, vocalizing the melody or harmony along with the ...
Allen Won: The Jewel in the Lotus
by Stephen Latessa
A slight headache came on as I started to read the liner notes to The Jewel In The Lotus by Allen Won. In the notes, Won explains that the music is “based on the Tibetan chakra system in which there are set points of 'whirling' energy always in motion within the body. He goes on to ...
The Rosewood Trio: Water And Fire: The Marimba Music Of Don Skoog
by Stephen Latessa
It's fair to say that albums featuring the marimba as a lead instrument are fairly uncommon. As such, as unfair as it may be, Water And Fire comes with a certain novelty value. My primary exposure to the marimba comes whenever I hear “Under My Thumb, and so this marimba-centric disc is a real embarrassment of ...
Lena Horne: Seasons of a Life
by Stephen Latessa
The recording studio is not always the best place for an artist to showcase their skills. Performers who have achieved their greatest success playing in front of an audience may in fact be unable to duplicate in the sterile confines of the studio that elusive talent that makes them so compelling on stage. Just as the ...
Antonio Carlos Jobim: Symphonic Jobim
by Stephen Latessa
Apart from his more widely known accomplishments as a founder of bossa nova and the writer of standards such as “The Girl From Ipanema, “Corcovado, and “Desafinado, Antonio Carlos Jobim harbored an ambition to be a symphonic composer. Symphonic Jobim is a unique project, spearheaded by Paulo Jobim and Mario Adnet, that seeks to spotlight Jobim's ...
