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."
The band for Rebecca Coupe Franks appearance at Jazz Live San Diego, Tuesday, March 8, 2011 8-10 PM PT from the Seville Theatre at San Diego City College (and broadcast LIVE at Jazz 88.3 FM San Diego and on the web at http://Jazz88.org) has just been announced....
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).
I'm blogging the show live and you can listen at http://Jazz88.org or 88.3 FM in San Diego....
9:23 Tune 11 <a blues shouter> They didn't say this was the end, but it sure looks like it based on the time...heading downstairs....
Looks like this will be the tune before the last one...then it's down for the close and onto the rest of the show...
9:14 Tune 10 "Theme from Pink Panther" Plas Johnson plays on the tune that made him famous...you knew he recorded the famous saxophone solo on this tune, right?!
9:07 Tune 9 "Delilah" featuring pianist Art Hillary. Richard Reid is really growly playing the bass...his microphone pickup on the bass really picks him up...sounds great! Everyone's taking a turn on this one...Garryck King on drums just did a nice thing with mallets...I think.
9:01 Tune 8 "Drink Muddy Water" with Red taking the lead on vocals and letting the theatre audience get a few responses in to his calls. The band swings.
8:58 Station ID Break and Q&A: We heard stories about Red and Plas' time in the Army. Red as a bandleader, after doing a stint in the motor pool and 'red lining' his pay...I guess that means he didn't take his pay for some reason. Plas was happy to be done with his time!
Time for me to figure out what we are going to banter and babble about at the 9PM station ID break.
8:47 Tune 7 "Caravan" Red sings the lyric to remember the name of the tune...featuring Garryck King on the buckets.
8:38 Tune 6 "Talk of the Town" Nice ballad choice. Again, Plas calling the tunes as he sees them from the stage. And his buddy Red is hanging right there with the band on stage...bet he wishes he was playing side by side with Plas (they talked about this in the pre-recorded interview).
8:31 Tune 5 "I Feel Good" A little James Brown being pulled out of the hat by Plas. The crowd is loving it!
8:25 Tune 4 "Yes, Yes" - Red does some magic rhyming 'pass' with 'yes'.
Red schmoozing the fine ladies with a tune he just wrote...I think I know the title...I cleared this for on-air...we'll see if I regret that decision!
8:17 Tune 3 "Hittin The Jug" - Plas wailing on a slow blues, after deciding what they were going to play. Looks like there isn't a set list for tonight's festivities!
8:10 Tune 2 <some title> Red Holloway leads the packed Seville Theatre in a blues sing-a-long.
8:01 Tune 1 "Lucky So and So" We didn't quite hit the 8:00 mark with the first tune, so I wonder what the 'toss' sounded like...the end of Tune 0 and then we went right into the show...LIVE radio with Jazz Legends at it's most unpredictable!
7: 56 Tune 0 "My Shining Hour" Supposed to be for the theatre only, as a last mix check for broadcast...but they didn't quite finish before the 8:00 toss from the studio, so I'm sure the radio audience heard the end of it, with my "LIVE from the Seville Theatre..." opener.
Some pre-show stuff...
Plas, Richard, and Garryk at the soundcheck...
Me with Red and Plas after the Jazz Live San Diego interview...
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."
