Four gifted artists, four separate styles, but together they will always be one of the industries most flamboyant, charismatic, feel good architects of song to hit the circuit in the past three decades. Some may feel that the Manhattan Transfer had their day in the sun and may be setting for them now. How misguided these poor, unfocused evaluators are. Manhattan Transfer has rekindled new life with that indistinguishable elegance as they introduce their new project (after a four year hiatus) "Vi …

Listening to Yoko Miwa play the piano is like listening to the stars that shine at night twinkle at various decibels as they frame the celestial bodies in the evening sky with sound waves of elation and startling beauty. Yoko’s latest album Canopy of Stars, released from Polystar Jazz Library Recordings, is a kaleidoscope of gently twirling notes created by Yoko on piano and her band that consists of Scott Goulding on drums and Massimo Biolcati on bass. Born in Kobe, Japan …

Amid the mindless self-indulgence of the music industry there is that unique flickering moment, when one brushes up against a professional jazz musician, uncontaminated and untainted from the mainstream mayhem of music. One who sets aside the self centered, self-absorbed attitudes to go forth and just make music for the love of the act, not the rewards there in. Knowing full well that the path she has undertaken would be motivated solely on her effort, Karolina Strassmayer has in fact, made her …

A fans artistic ingestion of a vocalist’s performance has, in some way, to do with the backdrop. For a rising vocalist, a live performance creates a technical and emotional euphoria that, in many cases, escapes the studio setting. Such is the case for jazz vocalist Taeko Fukao, as she pierced into the psyche of the crowds, adorning Bushnell Park in Connecticut. The pulse of that July performance warmed the masses and created a genuine compassion for her unique expression of an ever-evolving j