Results for "Tom Ranier"

Tom Ranier

David Finck: The Bass, Scatting Offenses, and the Back Hoe

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
May 19, 2017

David Finck is not only a first-call bassist with a long resume of high-profile recordings and gigs, but he's one of the most versatile musicians on any instrument. Finck has been in the studio, touring, and/or sharing the world's greatest stages with everyone from Andre Previn to Ivan Lins, Woody Herman to Natalie Cole and Kenny ...

Sal Lozano: Everything's Gonna Be Great

by Jack Bowers
June 17, 2016

If you're looking for a superlative one-man saxophone section, better call Sal (Lozano). And if you need some dazzling charts to make that section shine, better phone Tom (Kubis, that is). After spending years as one of Southern California's leading sidemen, Sal Lozano has at last recorded an album under his own name, one on which ...

Time Check: A Paucity of Riches?

by Jack Bowers
June 2, 2016

On May 18, Betty and I flew to Los Angeles to attend Time Check: A Buddy Rich Alumni Reunion, a four-day panorama sponsored by the L.A. Jazz Institute and held at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, about a stone's throw or two from the LAX airport. We arrived early afternoon so we could also be present for ...

Cat Conner: Cat House

by Jack Bowers
November 15, 2014

On Cat House, the follow-up to her superb debut album, Cat Tales, California-based vocalist Cat Conner shows again that she has the astuteness and chops to leave many other contemporary jazz vocalists floundering in her wake and gasping for air. This time around, Conner has chosen a baker's dozen of what she calls her “lucky tunes," ...

Cat Conner: Cat House

by C. Michael Bailey
November 3, 2014

West Coast Vocalist Cat Conner's debut recording, Cat Tales (Rhombus Records, 2012) was a critical highlight vocal recording of the year. Conner's grace and sophistication come from the same school that produced Shirley Horn, Rebecca Parris and Patti Wicks. She is a master of the slow ballad and that may be the least of her considerable ...

Take Five With Dr. Jack Cooper

by Dr. Jack Cooper
October 30, 2014

Meet Dr. Jack Cooper: Jack Cooper, has a wide range of experience as a performer, composer, and educator. His most recent CD recording of his compositions/arrangements, Mists: The Music of Charles Ives for Jazz Orchestra (Planet Arts Records, 2014) was released in August to critical acclaim in the Chicago Tribune and All About Jazz.

Pointing Fingers... And Naming Names

by Jack Bowers
May 4, 2013

As the countdown continues toward the last Big Band Report in June, the time has come to point fingers and name names--in other words, to compile a short list of contemporary jazz musicians who have risen above the norm to help make life more pleasurable for one devoted listener. These are, mind you, personal choices, and ...

Ed Puddick Big Band / Frank Macchia / Rick Wald NY 16

by Jack Bowers
April 6, 2011

Ed Puddick Big Band Guys & Dolls Diving Duck Records 2010 The late Frank Loesser wrote at least 700 songs, more than a dozen of which are included in the score for the smash musical Guys and Dolls, which, believe it or not, opened on Broadway more than sixty years ...

Frank Macchia: Son Of Folk Songs For Jazzers

by Edward Blanco
March 23, 2011

Composer/arranger Frank Macchia explores twelve more American folk songs and their reinterpretation through jazz on Son of Folk Songs for Jazzers, a follow-up to his critically acclaimed Folk Songs for Jazzers (Cacophony, 2010), for which he received his third Grammy nod in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category. As with the first album, Macchia uses a fourteen-piece ...