Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Randy Simon Jazz Project: The Linda Sessions

3

Randy Simon Jazz Project: The Linda Sessions

By

Sign in to view read count
Track review of "The Linda Sessions"

Randy Simon Jazz Project: The Linda Sessions
The Randy Simon Jazz Project brings to mind, on The Linda Sessions, a high end sports car in top condition zooming down a straight highway, with a rhythm section/drive train boosted by a piano and a guitar. The sound is clean, momentum smooth and straight forward. The tune—the opener of a two CD set—is "Just Deal With It." The band is as tight as a late fifties/early sixties Blue Note Records session, featuring the four man rhythm section with a trumpet and sax.

Randy Simon put it all together, but he doesn't play. His Randy Simon Jazz Project website introduces him as a "scientist, radio host and businessman living in upstate New York who moonlights as a jazz composer. " Based in Upstate New York, rather than the jazz capital in New York City, Simon's "project" features some of the top players in the Albany region, in a vibrant, live-in-the-studio atmosphere that results in lively, top-notch sounds.

"7 Mile Beach" sounds like one of those Freddie Hubbard/Junior Cook sessions from Blue Note, with trumpeter Dylan Canterbury laying down a string sizzling of ideas on his solo, giving way to Kevin Barcomb's smoldering tenor sax. The soloing throughout—it sounds like Simon leaves a lot of room for personal expression—is unwaveringly superb: pianist Rob Lindquist's exuberant turn on "Weave The Tale;" trumpeter Dylan Canterbury's liquid ruminations on "Moorea Lagoon," guitarist Chuck D'Aloia's tangy-sweet single-noting on the same tune, a composition that, along with "Poipu Walk" speaks to the inspiration of tropical landscapes.

The Linda Sessions serves up two disc's worth of first rate modern jazz by some lesser-known performers.

Track Listing

CD 1: Just Deal with It; 7 Mile Beach; What's Cooking?; Poipu Walk; Metropolis; Santa Cruz. CD 2: Weave The Tale; Moorea Lagoon; Don't Give Me That; Dreamscape; Head Down The Road; How Did We End Up Here Again?.

Personnel

Randy Simon Jazz Project
composer / conductor

Randy Simon: composer/producer; Rob Lindquist: piano; John Menegon: bass; Danny Whelcel: drums and percussion; Chuck D'Aloia: guitar; Kevin Barcomb: tenor and soprano saxophones; Dylan Canterbury: trumpet, flugelhorn.

Album information

Title: The Linda Sessions | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Self Produced

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.