This new electric band led by trumpeter Terence Blanchard came together last October and then went on a two-week European tour. Terence himself said that he thought the audience at Milano’s Blue Note were a little shocked since most of them had expected an acoustic set. But then everything clicked and they received a standing…
Guitarist Dave Stryker met the legendary saxophonist Stanley Turrentine back in 1986 and has toured with him for over a decade and recorded with him twice. I vividly remember the day Stanley died, driving in my rental car from San Francisco to Monterey to visit the Monterey Jazz Festival when the news came on the…
The new album from singer Mario Biondi is a pretty mixed affair. Actually, it really doesn’t say anything anymore after the fourth track, except maybe for the Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick-penned and -produced “Another Kind Of Love”. I have always admired the Barry White-ness in his voice, so natural and without coming over like a cheap…
The second album by bassist Ben Williams could also be called “State Of The Art Vol. 2” relating to the name of his first one. There is some Miles Davis/Lonnie Liston Smith vibe on the funky opener “Black Villain Music” (more of that!), finest modern jazz with some great guitar playing by Matthew Stevens (who…
The title of Rebecca DuMaine‘s third album is from Antonio Carlos Jobim‘s lyric to “One Note Samba” which is featured here as one of two Brazilian flavored tunes. The other is “The Face That I Love” by Marcos Valle (actually known as “The Face I Love”) which was also recently covered by the brilliant Stacey…
It’s a new chapter for singer Melody Gardot with her new album “Currency Of Man”. If you’re an avid reader of liner notes and credits like I am, it was fascinating to read the name Jerry Hey for example doing all the horn arrangements on the record. It was Jerry who, in addition to millions…
His songs have this special quality of staying in your head for a long time. And he has the wit and humor in his songwriting that is something of a rare thing these days (“I’d Sleep With Your Cat But I’m Scared He Might Bite”). Add to this his virtuosity as a pianist. And voilà…
Trombonist Jeff Bradshaw, who has worked with Patti LaBelle, Kindred The Family Soul, or Jill Scott, and who released the wittily entitled “Bone Appetit” a couple of years ago to great acclaim (the album featured Maysa, Raheem DeVaughn, and Marsha Ambrosius), has assembled an all-star cast for one special night at the Kimmel Center for…
Rhodes Ahead Vol. 1 was released by pianist Marc Cary in early 2000 and I’m still going back to that album with its amazing Rhodes and Moog sounds of “Making Love, Making Music” (destined to become a Fusion classic), the housey “Inside Yourself”, the dreamy “Home Comin’”, or my favorite from that album, the irresistible…
I have always admired the voice of singer Victor Fields who was born in New York and currently lives in Oakland. His warm and soulful timbre is gracing five records up until now and his latest is dedicated to the great Lou Rawls, himself a one-of-a-kind singer with a distinctive baritone who had an extremely…