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Lizz Wright: Dreaming Wide Awake
by Stephen Latessa
Lizz Wright has an immediately arresting voice. She sounds equally at home whether reaching for high, airy notes or dropping down for the deepest, earthiest tones. Dreaming Wide Awake finds her taking on an eclectic assortment of songs, including a number of impressive originals. With its stripped down soul/jazz/pop arrangements, the album cannot escape comparisons to ...
John Scofield: That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays The Music of Ray Charles
by David Miller
Over the past decade, John Scofield has put out three types of albums. First, there are the acoustic post bop outings: Quiet, Works For Me, and his latest release, EnRoute. Second, there are the funk-jazz records: Grace Under Pressure, Hand Jive, and Groove Elation. And finally, there are the funky acid-soul-jazz records, A Go Go, Bump, ...
Kurt Rosenwinkel: Deep Song
by George Harris
Kurt Rosenwinkel's Heartcore caught jazz fans by surprise last year. Despite its wondrous, thick textures and mixtures of rhythms, the disc was initially overlooked, then slowly crawled into the psyche of the jazz community to become one of the most important releases of the year. With Deep Song, the guitarist drops most of his usual band, ...
Wynton Kelly Trio with Wes Montgomery: Smokin' at the Half Note
by Samuel Chell
This remastered, expanded edition of the classic 1965 Wes Montgomery-Wynton Kelly Trio session is essentially an economy-priced version of the import The Complete Live at the Half Note. If you have the original Smokin' at the Half Note and are not a Wes completist intent on picking up the six extra tunes (expendable, with the exception ...
Various: The Complete Norman Granz Jam Sessions
by AAJ Staff
Jazz impresario Norman Granz was one of the greatest benefactors of the “jam session concept in jazz history. His Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts (many of which were documented since the first in July 1944) offer a major slice of this music's history, starting off with the legends he invited to perform. This extraordinary five-CD box ...
Wayne Shorter Quartet: Beyond the Sound Barrier
by John Kelman
When saxophonist Wayne Shorter put together his first all-acoustic group since the '60s for a 2001 tour and live recording, Footprints Live!, it was an important confirmation that even one of the most significant artists of the past six decades could (and, perhaps, should) have something new to say. That first recording--featuring pianist Danilo Perez, bassist ...
Freddy Cole: Waiter Ask The Man to Play the Blues
by Javier AQ Ortiz
Originally released either in 1956, according to Freddy Cole's official website, or 1964, per the reissue's information, Waiter Ask The Man to Play the Blues: Freddie Cole Sings & Plays Some Lonely Ballads isn't--as the title might tempt one to think--an exercise in despondent blues and wrist slashing. Actually, it has plenty of tight, low, sizzling ...
John Scofield: That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays The Music of Ray Charles
by John Kelman
It's usually best to assess a project on its own merits, rather than getting caught up in expectation or preconception. Fans of guitarist John Scofield's more jazz-centric work, including his early-'90s Blue Note work and his recent recording EnRoute, will undoubtedly find the glossy production of That's What I Say disappointing and, well, a little safe. ...
Charlie Haden: Land of the Sun
by Javier AQ Ortiz
Land of the Sun could--perhaps even should--be retitled Bolero: Gonzalo Rubalcaba Presents the Music of José Sabre MarroquÃ-n with Charlie Haden. This recording is about prowess of interpretative melodic dynamics; harmonic, rhythmic, and tonal beauty; and rigorous poetic tenderness. Playing jazzed boleros at this level of musicianship isn't an easy matter nonetheless. One must ...
Kurt Rosenwinkel: Deep Song
by David Adler
Kurt Rosenwinkel's fourth Verve release, Deep Song, steps back from the searching electronica of Heartcore and adheres to a jazz quintet aesthetic. For the first time, Joshua Redman appears in place of Rosenwinkel's longtime tenor sax associate, Mark Turner. We also hear Brad Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard and Ali Jackson ...
