Reviews The Chick Corea and Steve Gadd Band Chinese Butterfly Chick Corea and Steve Gadd are old friends, having worked together on several notable occasions back in the 1970s. Gadd was the original drummer with the second version of Return To Forever before he was succeeded by Lenny White. [...]
Reviews Anat Cohen and Fred Hersch Live In Healdsburg Anat Cohen, a superior clarinetist and tenor-saxophonist from Israel, and veteran pianist Fred Hersch have had very different lives and lifestyles but both have adventurous spirits along with complete command of their instruments. They had not worked together very [...]
Reviews Harold Mabern To Love And Be Loved The great veteran pianist Harold Mabern, who has been an important part of the New York jazz scene since the early 1960s, is now 83. However on his recent CD To Love And Be Loved, he shows no signs [...]
Reviews Mike Vax & Ron Romm Collaboration Mike Vax, an alumnus of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, has always been comfortable in several musical idioms. His career is filled with an endless number of associations including performances and recordings with Art Pepper, Gene Krupa, Don Ellis, Joe Williams, the Dukes of [...]
Reviews Nina Simone Mood Indigo: The Complete Bethlehem Singles Nina Simone (1933-2003) was unique in music history. She was a classically trained pianist who, due to the racism in the classical music world, found herself having to make a living as a singing pianist in supper clubs. During her peak [...]
Reviews Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Scandal Tenor-saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas have been major names for decades, always creating stimulating post-bop music that defies classification as anything beyond "modern jazz." They had crossed paths occasionally through the years before finally coming together for a live recording at [...]
Reviews STEPHANE WREMBEL The Django Experiment III The Gypsy Jazz movement has resulted in a countless number of groups emulating the Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France, particularly in Europe. Ranging from near-recreations to esoteric extensions of the original string band swing style, the revival of [...]
Reviews JOEY ALEXANDER Joey, Monk, Live! 2017 was Thelonious Monk's centennial, a year in which there were quite a few recorded tributes to the unique pianist-composer. One of the last to be released is by pianist Joey Alexander, who was born 21 years after Monk's passing in 1982. Still just [...]
Reviews HOUSTON PERSON Rain or Shine Throughout his long career, which reaches back to at least 1963 when he recorded with organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Houston Person has always displayed a large tone inspired by Gene Ammons, the ability to caress melodies, and the knack for making every note count. [...]
Reviews DAN BECK BAND All the Fish are Hoppin' - Independent Expressive and soulful guitarist, vocalist, writer Dan Beck performs front and center with the Dan Beck Band on his debut release All The Fish Are Hoppin.’ This studio-recording blend of Blues and Jazz along with melodic improvisational exchanges between Dan and [...]