MIKE COTTONE (
@MikeCottone)– “JUST REMEMBER” (Trumpeter, leading a quintet, in a straight-
ahead outing).
GEORGE GILLIAM – “STEPPIN’ LIGHTLY” (Straight-ahead guitar trio).
JERRY GONZALEZ – ‘Y EL COMANDO DE LA CLAVE” (Latin jazz trumpeter, with
some vocal tracks, can also be played straight-ahead).
CANDYE KANE /
SUE PALMER (
FB,
@SuePalmer_Piano,
YouTube)– “ONE NIGHT IN BELGIUM” (The 2 ladies,
performing live).
Candy Kane and Sue Palmer's telepathic musical rapport (George Varga): Kane, a boisterous, sometimes bawdy singer, with a big voice and an
even bigger heart, first began playing with ace pianist Palmer in 1991
at the Belly Up in Solana Beach. Their near-telepathic musical rapport
was immediately apparent, fueled by their shared passion for blues,
boogie-woogie, swing, jump-blues and other earthy American music styles.You can savor that rapport on the recently released “One Night in
Belgium,” an intimate live duo album Kane and Palmer recorded in 1999 in
Eeklo, Belgium.
CHUCK LOEB (@ChuckLoeb)– “PLAIN ‘N’ SIMPLE” (Smooth jazz guitarist, in a straight-ahead,
organ trio session, with some horns and vocals).
SmoothJazzDaily: Tweety Records is proud to present
Chuck Loeb’s latest CD
Plain ‘n’Simple,
his seventeenth as a solo artist. It is an organ trio project,
featuring Pat Bianchi on the keys and pedals, and Chuck’s fellow
Fourplay band member Harvey Mason on drums. The CD represents a new
direction for Chuck, while at the same time harkening back to his
earliest influences as a jazz guitarist. From the beginning, he was
drawn to the organ trio sound by his love for the early Wes Montgomery
records, as well as the hallmark Jimmy Smith recordings of the 1960’s.
The repertoire includes eight Loeb originals, two gems penned by Mason,
and a couple of standards too. The music is swinging, funky, lush and exciting from note one, and stays
that way to the very last drop. Chuck’s fans will find the excellence
in playing, sound, and production that they have come to expect from
him, as well experiencing a side of the artist that they may have never
heard before.
LARRY VUCKOVICH – “SOMETHIN’ SPECIAL” (Pianist, leading a quintet, doing
jazz standards).
Amazon.com:
Something Special, this newest offering from Larry Vuckovich,
creates a strong 'Blue Note' flavor of soulful, swinging jazz. The
selections reflect the pianist's important early influences, honoring
the jazz masters who inspired him when he first began playing jazz.
Vuckovich runs his deft fingers across the keys on some rare
compositions, such as Horace Silver's languid
Enchantment and Sonny Clark's
Somethin' Special,
the album's title track. He presents guest artist, classic tenor
saxophonist Scott Hamilton, in a slightly different light from Scott's
past recordings. Hamilton shines as he plays compositions of the bebop
masters, newly introduced to him, such as Dexter Gordon's
Cheese Cake, as well as the Clark piece, and the funk classic of Ben Tucker's
Comin' Home Baby. This studio recording developed out of a 2011 Northern California tour Vuckovich helped arrange for Hamilton.
WESTCHESTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA (
FB) – “MAIDEN VOYAGE SUITE” (Big band
versions of Herbie Hancock tunes).
NYTimes.com (Philip Lutz): The recording made last month at Bennett Studios, “Maiden Voyage Suite,”
will consist of original arrangements of tunes from Mr. Hancock’s 1965
album “
Maiden Voyage.”
The suite was enthusiastically received twice in concert, though it
became a candidate for recording only when the orchestra won a $10,000
grant from the
Aaron Copland Fund for Music. The award was announced last June. The recording session, Mr. Holober said, was “definitely overdue.”
SKIP WILKINS – “AFTER” (Pianist, following up his standards release, with an edgy
collection of originals).
Philly.com: The current Lafayette College jazz professor, who is relocating to Europe, says he made
After for
his grown children who had left home. The intuitive set with drummer
Jeff Hirshfield and bassist Scott Lee projects a warm, rich tone and a
questing vibe at times. The title track certainly produces righteous
heat.
WARREN WOLF – “WARREN WOLF” (Vibraphonist, leading a straight-ahead
session).
The Urban Music Scene:
It's no exaggeration to state that the release of Warren Wolf, the eponymous debut album for Mack Avenue Records by Warren Wolf,
will make it as apparent to jazz fans as it already is to jazz insiders
that the 31-year-old vibraphonist is the next major voice on his
instrument. Joined by a unit of authoritative swingers (bassist Christian McBride, pianist Peter Martin, drummer Greg Hutchinson, alto and soprano saxophonist Tim Green, and, on two tracks, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt),
Wolf offers a ten-piece program that admirably represents his singular
blend of efflorescent chops, muscular attack, lyric sensibility,
harmonic acumen, encyclopedic knowledge of hardcore jazz vocabulary,
tireless groove and downright musicality.
"I'm
trying to bring forth what most cats did back in the day, coming out
right at you swinging, nice and hard, not a lot of hard melodies or
weird time signatures," Wolf says. "I like to play really hard, fast and
kind of flashy. I like to take it to a whole other level."
SAM YAHEL – “FROM SUN TO SUN” (Pianist, playing organ on some tracks, doing
mostly originals. A little on the edgy side).
Origin REcords: After establishing himself as one of the world's foremost organists over
the last decade, Sam Yahel showed off a new side in 2009 with a
critically acclaimed piano trio recording that highlighted his broad
musical interests and the dynamic interplay of his seasoned band. Now in
their tenth year, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Jochen Rueckert again
join Yahel as he engages with both the Hammond B3 and piano for an
inspired album of fresh originals, and classics including "So in Love"
and "A Beautiful Friendship." "...as elegant as anything you've ever
heard from an organist. Larry Young would be proud." JazzTimes
I will be debuting as much of this new as possible on 
