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Chris Oatts: Personalities
by Victor L. Schermer
Saxophonist Chris Oatts is a graduate of the jazz program at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance and the nephew of revered saxophonist—and faculty member of Temple University—Dick Oatts. This reviewer heard Chris Oatts at Chris' Jazz Café (similarity in the names purely coincidental) in September, 2021, with his quintet featuring one of his ...
Joe Block Quartet Featuring Vocalist Jamile At Chris’ Jazz Cafe
by Victor L. Schermer
Joe Block Quartet featuring vocalist Jamile Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA June 17, 2022 Although this reviewer recently interviewed pianist Joe Block for All About Jazz, he never heard Block leading his own group live. So he seized this opportunity to get an up close hearing at ...
Pianist Joe Block: At the Start of His Big Bang
by Victor L. Schermer
According to cosmologists, our universe started as a tiny speck and within a fraction of a second exploded into a huge ever-expanding space with all the galaxies, stars, and planets condensing out of the dispersed matter within it. This picture of the origins of the cosmos provides an apt metaphor for the way in which some ...
Matthew Parrish's Philly Express Band: Jazz at Cherry Street Pier
by Victor L. Schermer
Matthew Parrish Philly Express Band Cherry Street Pier Philadelphia, PA April 16, 2022 This “Jazz Appreciation Month" concert, sponsored by Jazz Philadelphia and the city's Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, unveiled a jazz quintet of highest caliber. The group was assembled by bassist Matthew Parrish ...
Sid Mark: An Interview With The Legendary Philadelphia Disc Jockey
by Victor L. Schermer
Sid Mark is a Philadelphia institution. For the last fifty years (!), he has hosted the popular radio show, The Sounds of Sinatra exclusively devoted to the man and his music. (The show currently airs on WPHT 1210 AM: “Friday with Frank": Fridays 6pm-8pm ET; “Saturday with Sinatra": Saturdays 8pm-10pm ET; “Sunday with Sinatra": Sundays 8am-1pm ...
Hasaan Ibn Ali: Requiem (And Praise) For A Heavyweight Pianist
by Victor L. Schermer
"The new release of Hasaan's Retrospect In Retirement Of Delay: The Solo Recordings (Omnivore Recordings, 2021), which features him in privately recorded performances from 1962 to 1965, reveals his profundity, his overwhelming power, his mighty virtuosity. It does more than put him on the map of jazz history—it expands the map to include the vast expanse ...
Pat Bianchi: Something to Say: The Music of Stevie Wonder
by Victor L. Schermer
This album is a tribute to Stevie Wonder, who beyond his popularity and fame has always been a an exceptional musician. It features four superb musicians, an organ trio consisting of Pat Bianchi on Hammond B-3 organ, Paul Bollenback on guitar, and Byron Landham on drums, with Wayne Escoffery as guest tenor saxophonist that honors Wonder's ...
Bill Goodwin: Not Less Than Everything
by Victor L. Schermer
Bill Goodwin is like a breath of fresh air blowing through jazz. From the time around 1954 when he was in Los Angeles and just learning the drums, and inspired by Shelly Manne, to today, around his 80th birthday, he has loved jazz and the musicians unconditionally. He has befriended and worked with so many of ...
Mary Ellen Desmond: Comfort and Joy 2021
by Victor L. Schermer
Mary Ellen Desmond Comfort and Joy Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany Philadelphia, PA December 12, 2021 Mary Ellen Desmond is one of the most treasured Philadelphia-based vocalists, and for more than a decade she has provided the inspiration for and fronted the same top ...
Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame
by Victor L. Schermer
In memory of Barry Harris. This article was first published at All About Jazz on October 29, 2015. At the ripe age of 85, pianist Barry Harris has been on the jazz scene for seventy years, and throughout that time, he has remained loyal to and consistent with his bebop roots. Even though his ...
