ERNEST STUART – “SOLITARY WALKER” (Very edgy trombonist, with a mix of originals and standards).
Reviews and Quotes:
Ernest Stuart - Album Preview: Solitary Walker is the product of my
attempt to create music that is a true reflection of myself and my
musical experiences which ranges from gigs with The Roots to The Village
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. I also wanted to present a jazz album that is
steeped in the tradition of Philadelphia soul. During it’s production, I
set out to capture an honesty that I feel most over-produced jazz
albums now lack. I believe the over-use of technology to erase
“mistakes” can leave an album without character. The album boasts a
slight rawness from the use of acoustic instruments and as few
microphones as possible (the horns share one microphone as well). In
keeping with my vision of honesty, the listener is drawn into the
album’s sound and sophistication unpretentiously.
AllAboutJazz: "The CD title Solitary Walker comes from the book Reveries of the Solitary Walker
written by French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Stuart discovered
the book during a somewhat tumultuous time while living in New York
City. The book's theme resonated deeply with him, though his “exile" was
totally self imposed. He learned a lot about himself during this
relatively short period, but also about the nature of ordinary people,
music and musicians."
ANTHONY SMITH QUARTET – “THE LADY & THE QUEEN” (Local pianist, leading a quartet, doing all originals).
Reviews and Quotes:
Anthony Smith Bio: "...also the Common Ground Theatre’s world premiere of “Jazz Queens Cast Blue
Shadows,” for which Anthony wrote the original score to accompany the
standards of Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. The music from “Jazz
Queens” was then recorded in the studio by Anthony and his four-piece
band, for a forthcoming Bluport Records release (early 2011)."
ROBERTA
PIKET – “SIDES, COLORS” (Mostly progressive outing, with a variety of
band configurations, doing mostly originals, with a couple of
standards).
Reviews and Quotes:
AllAboutJazz.com (Wilbert Sostre): "she demonstrates her different musical sides and colors. Piket shows her classical, lyrical side on "Billy's Ballad" and Bill Evans "Laurie," while the classical feel is accentuated by the addition of clarinet, flute and strings—a concept similar to Esperanza Spalding's Chamber Music Society (Heads Up, 2010)."
AllAboutJazz.com (Dan McClenaghan): "Side, Colors
features a mix of styles, but is sequenced perfectly. "Side A" is
mostly with strings; "Side B," a freer, mostly piano trio affair. Piket
takes some chances here, and it pays off nicely."
BRAD
MEHLDAU – “LIVE IN MARCIAC” (Solo piano outing, 2 discs, with a great
mix of originals, standards and new standards, recorded live).
Reviews and Quotes:
Huffington Post (Joseph Vella): "What makes his solo outings and the Live at Marciac recording
so exciting is the repertoire that he incorporates into his
performances. His blend of jazz and classical styles, the American
Songbook, unique covers of pop tunes and originals all seamlessly blend
into a fulfilling and varied musical experience. His breathtaking
command of his instrument is undeniable. But what he is able to say
musically as a soloist within the context of each song combined with his
improvisations is simply masterful. "
CDBaby: "Beautiful As The Moon is a
very personal statement from the band--all of the music comes from the
band members or is inspired by their families and their influences." "With all but one song
recorded at the Saville Theater, San Diego City College for a live
concert on KSDS Jazz88 radio in San Diego, this is an excellent
opportunity to experience some great Latin Jazz live without any edits
or tricks so common on many studio produced sessions where the music is
recorded overdub by overdub. Not here, this is the real deal--seasoned
Jazz and Latin Jazz musicians running risks to create great art,
passionate rhythms and beautiful melodies resulting in music that is as
beautiful as the moon."
FRED HERSCH – “ALONE AT THE VANGUARD” (Solo live piano recording, with a mix of originals, jazz tunes and standards).
Reviews and Quotes:
AllAboutJazz (Dan McClenaghan): "Hersch
has what it takes to ignore the "never open with a ballad" advice: a
supple and exquisitely-refined touch; a sharp focus on the melody; a
deep sense of classical harmony; and a magical ability to get inside the
tune and make it his own. Hersch's sound here has a uncommon
fragility/strength dynamic, and it is serious and cerebral, with an
opposing simplicity buoyed by a rich complexity, born of a lifetime's
immersion in the music."
SCOTT HAMILTON AND ROSSANO SPORTIELLO – “MIDNIGHT AT NOLA’S PENTHOUSE” (Sax/piano duet rendering of standards).
Reviews and Quotes:
Scott Hamilton Wikipedia: "He emerged in the 1970s and at the time he was considered to be one of
the few musicians of real talent who carried the tradition of the
classic jazz tenor saxophone in the style of Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins as well as Zoot Sims and Don Byas forward. He began playing in various rhythm & blues outfits in Providence (Rhode Island), but subsequently shifted to jazz and the tenor saxophone. In 1976 he moved to New York City at, in part the recommendation of Roy Eldridge. He there joined Benny Goodman for a period of time and in 1977 recorded his debut album for Concord Records, with whom he would have a long recording career in his own name and as one of their Concord Jazz All Stars. He also worked as a backing musician for singer Rosemary Clooney and others."
DUO LARE – “IN OTHER WORDS” (Local string players, with a mixture of mostly originals and jazz tunes).
Mandolin New Music: "In Other Words is the debut release from Duo LaRé, Chris
Acquavella on mandolin and Nate Jarrell on guitar. The duo performs
contemporary music influenced by jazz, contemporary classical and
eastern European folk traditions with about half of the tracks being
original compositions."
FRANK BUTREY – “MALICIOUS DELICIOUS” (Joe @Jazz88: Very edgy guitarist, all tune authored or co-authored by him).
AllAboutJazz.com (Victor Schermer): "Jazz
guitarists will find Butrey's rich improvisational capabilities of
great interest. He likes to play with possibilities and demonstrates
rich motivic and chordal development. There is an ingenuity repeatedly
occurring as he and his cohorts try on new "skins" in chameleon-like
adaptations. After several listens, the head spins from exposure to the
myriad musical changes that, in turn, evoke changes in the psyche. In
that sense, the music is transformational, provoking changes in the
sense of self much like a psychedelic drug."
NEW THIS WEEK FOR 2/17/11 - Finally adding the Mingus Big Band 2010 Grammy Winner for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album...hoo ray! New Charlie Haden music and new music from Art Hillery, the pianist for our last Jazz Live with Red Holloway and Plas Johnson.
BANN – “AS YOU LIKE” (Saxophone/highly electrified guitar quartet, doing mostly originals and some standards).
PETER ELDRIDGE – “MAD HEAVEN” (Vocalist/pianist, doing mostly straight-ahead, original material).
DIRK FISHCER & GEORGE STONE – “COMING OF AGE” (Swinging big band, with a mix of originals and jazz tunes).
CHARLIE HADEN QUARTET WEST – “SOPHISTICATED LADIES” (Straight-ahead quartet, with all-star females on vocal tracks, backed by strings).
CURT HANRAHAN QUARTET – “SOULJOURNER” (Saxophonist/flutist, recorded live. Mix of originals and jazz tunes).
ARET HILLERY – “WORKS OF ART” (Pianist, leading various band configurations. All originals, with 3 vocal tracks).
MAD ROMANCE – “AIM HIGH” (Vocal ensemble, doing Great American Songbook, with a couple of new standards).
TONY MESSINA – “LIVE IN NEW YORK AT THE IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB” (Male vocalist, with a good voice, doing mostly standards).
MINGUS BIG BAND – “LIVE AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE” (2010 Grammy winner, recorded live, mostly progressive performances).
ALON NECHUSHTAN – “WORDS BEYOND” (Hard driving piano trio, doing all originals).
PLUNGE – “TIN FISH TANGO” (Various horns, backed by only a bass, doing all originals).
PopMatters: " The album lacks for nothing as far as musical talent, with Hakim’s deft
handiwork on drums, Rachel Z’s rollercoaster waves of piano movements,
and Royce’s rumbling bass lines. They even manage to add flavor to some
of the original compositions with flourishing solos and tempo changes,
as in the Trio’s revisit of “Angry Chair” by Alice in Chains. " "The downside is that the Trio doesn’t always mesh as a single unit. At
times, their collaboration seems more like three soloists playing at
once, each one elbowing the other for coveted space."
Sea of Tranquility (John Neudorf): "The trio produces a full rich sound that will have all jazz fans
reaching for their wallets. This may in fact be my favourite jazz CD
this year and when you look at the players it is not hard to see why." "What makes this album a little different is the choice of songs the trio
chose to tackle. Instead of the usual standards of the past, they have
mostly reworked recent rock and pop compositions, making this a
completely refreshing and rewarding listen. Although I encourage
rock/pop fans to give this a listen, this is still a jazz recording
through and through, albeit a very good one."
AllAboutJazz.com (Jeff Winbush): "The eclectic and restless musical tastes of drummer Omar Hakim and pianist Rachel Nicolazzo (aka Rachel Z) offer some mighty impressive bait to reel them in, The Trio of Oz's repertoire reading like an hour's worth of college radio station programming." "...rendering
their creation of new ways to splice the seemingly contradictory jazz
and rock idioms together into some sort of mutant hybrid—capturing the
fun of the latter without compromising the integrity of the
former—completely understandable."
Some great new added by Joe, including the Marcus Shelby, Lisa Hilton...will be interesting to hear the Marcus Miller and Omar Hakim/Rachel Z things. You can hear a lot of this for the first time on radio weekly on The New Jazz Thing (http://TNJT.com), 6-8 PM PT Thursdays on Jazz 88.3 FM and http://Jazz88.org
NEW THIS WEEK FOR 2/3/11
HERB ALPERT & LANI HALL – “I FEEL YOU” (Mostly vocal album, with a contemporary vibe).
MATIJA DEDIC TRIO – “MD IN NYC” (Piano trio, with a mixed bag of standards and originals, quiet tunes and progressive jams).
PHIL DeGREG – “AMAZONAS” (Nice Brazilian grooves on originals, jazz tunes and standards).
MIKE DiRUBBO – “CHRONOS” (Saxophone-organ trio, with an edgy groove to it, doing all originals).
OMAR HAKIM/RACHEL Z – “THE TRIO OF OZ” (Piano trio, doing jazz versions of tunes by Alice in Chains, Coldplay, Depeche Mode and the like).
LISA HILTON – “UNDERGROUND” (Typically nice release from this pianist, doing all her own compositions).
AMY LONDON – “LET’S FLY” (Female vocalist doing standards and jazz tunes. Nice arrangements).
GENE LUDWIG – “LOVE NOTES OF COLE PORTER” (Great jams on Porter tunes by this organist, who died last year. Various band configurations).
MARCUS MILLER – “A NIGHT IN MONTE CARLO” (Bassist, backed by the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, with a mixed bag of contemporary, straight-ahead and Brazilian tunes).
NEW YORK ELECTRIC PIANO – “KEYS TO THE CITY, VOLS. 1 & 2” (Double disc release of vocals on one, and progressive instrumentals on the two).
MARCUS SHELBY ORCHESTRA – “SOUL OF THE MOVEMENT” (Mostly vocal big band recordings of songs made famous during the Civil Rights Movement).
DENNIS TAYLOR – “STEPPIN’ UP” (Saxophone/organ trio, funky but straight-ahead versions of originals and new standards).
DOUG WEBB – “RENOVATIONS” (Another outstanding, straight-ahead quartet release by this saxophonist, doing all standards).
Looking for feedback on the latest adds to the Jazz 88 KSDS San Diego Music Library. Got something you want to hear? Do you have a story about the artist or the release? What's the impact of this new release?
NEW THIS WEEK FOR 1/20/11
ELLIOTT CAINE SEXTET – “HIPPIE CHICKS ON ACID” (Relatively straight-ahead quintet recording, recorded live, some edgy sax work).
JAKE FRYER/BUD SHANK – “IN GOOD COMPANY” (Bud’s last recording, with fellow alto player. Magnusson, Wofford and Joe LaBarbera in the band).
CHANTALE GAGNE – “WISDOM OF THE WATER” (Pianist, backed by Joe Locke, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash, doing mostly original compositions).
JOEL HARRISON’S STRING CHOIR – “THE MUSIC OF PAUL MOTIAN” (Guitar and strings, doing Motian’s music. Strictly nights-only).
THE JAZZ PROFESSORS – “”LIVE FROM THE U.C.F.-ORLANDO JAZZ FESTIVAL” (Teachers at UCF, some familiar names, doing standards).
JAZZVOX – “IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD” (A variety of singers, some familiar, some not, backed by pianists and guitarists, doing all standards).
JOE LOVANO/US FIVE – “BIRD SONGS” (Saxophonist, in a fairly straight-ahead session, paying tribute to Charlie Parker).
DAVE MILLER TRIO – “RAPTURE” (Piano trio, doing standards and jazz tunes).
MARTY NAU GROUP – “MOOD EBONY” (Clarinetist, playing straight-ahead. Some originals, some standards).
NOAH PREMINGER – “BEFORE THE RAIN” (Saxophone-led quartet, doing originals and standards, in a progressive manner).
MARK WEINSTEIN – “JAZZ BRASIL” (Flutist, doing originals and jazz tunes, with a hint of latin flavor).
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