CD Reviews (11563)
Find full CD and individual track reviews of your favorite jazz artists right here, and hopefully you also discover some new artists to add to your collection as well.
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Jane Stuart has all the attributes of a real jazz singer and she utilizes them all in this fine album. The musicians are all first class, and that's as it should be on a recording of this calibre."I Just Found Out About Love" A happy tempo and some hip scatting…
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New York saxophonist Benjamin Drazen doesn't waste any time letting a listener know what his musical intent is all about. From the opening moments of Inner Flights, his debut release as a leader, the fiery alto and soprano saxophonist swings unrepentantly with blistering lines and a bold, Jackie McLean-inspired sounds.…
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Benn Clatworthy is a superb tenor saxophone player (in this era of non-compliance to the jazz idiom). His worthy constituents, Joe Bagg at the Hammond B3 and Don Littleton on drums, round out a first-class jazz group. In the title tune "Three Wise Monkeys," a Clatworthy original, the tenor solo…
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It's a bold endeavor to believe you can invoke freshness and vitality into thinly worn standards like "Body and Soul," "All the Things You Are" and "My Funny Valentine." Trumpeter Cuong Vu meets the challenge head-on with imaginative results on Leaps of Faith, a quartet outing with wide-open improvisatory exploration,…
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Artist:Tony AdamoTitle:What Is Hip?Genre:JazzLabel:IndependentRelease Date:2011Product Link:http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tonyadamo3/from/muzikmanWebsite:http://www.myspace.com/tonyrocadamoSource Link:http://www.muzikreviews.com/reviews.php?ID=1448Tony Adamo has a voice that sounds like what you would get if you put Dr. John, Lou Rawls, and Mark Murphy into a bomb shelter with Dr. Joesph Mengele and presented him the challenge of harmonizing their voices into one. After a
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Sean Sullivan wants to do it all and wants to give listeners everything in his musical arsenal on Square One. The New York-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist delivers no fewer than 21 songs (17 on the disc and four bonus downloads) that showcase his considerable talents. A two-time winner of…
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The Fred Hess Big Band has a winner on its hands with the innovative big band CD collection, Into The Open. The collection shines with its intricate approaches and right-on performances.With the exception of the Jean Bardy/Denny Goodhew song, "See You" (Illuma Soma), all other songs are by composer Fred…
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Julian Waterfall Pollack is a keeper. Though in his early 20s, he already has enough technique and imagination to hold attention, and he swings with the best. The opening, "Summertime," demonstrates all of the above. After a slow bluesy statement of the melody, there's a repeat in double-time with insistent…
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Janet Planet has been a jazz musician for over twenty-five years. Words taken from her pres kit, "She is a productive recording artist, performer, teacher and clinician. She has been self-produced and managed for the majority or her career. Jazziz Magazine hailed her as a 'Voice of the New Jazz…
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Point of No Return is truly an exceptional journey in jazz listening with its original compositions by pianist Michel Reis. Listening to Michel Reis is akin to listening to a most perfect combination of jazz stylings by such pianists as Danilo Perez, Andre Previn, and Bill Evans, topped by the…
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The first cut here, "Espelho de tua força," has the expectant vibe of great things to come. What does follow is Brazilian-tinged jazz driven by consistently precise and colorful percussion--friendly but not exceptional. The flute is light and fluffy, the keyboard electronically mellow, the bass plump and springy. Alexandre Cunha…
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Creative drive demands new sounds and techniques. With so many terrific jazz pianists recording nowadays, it's tough to satisfy that drive—tough even to be noticed, unless you are the second coming of Art Tatum. It’s tempting to try a new approach—maybe a piano and percussion duo? Dave Anderson and Mike…
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Vocalist/pianist Peter Eldridge, perhaps best known for his work with the Grammy winning New York Voices, delivers a Latin-inspired collection of sleek songwriting with Mad Heaven, his first venture for Palmetto Records. Following in the footsteps of his critically acclaimed, self-produced 2005 release Decorum, Eldridge offers up sophisticated arrangements and…
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On The Prairie Prophet, saxophonist Ernest Dawkins and his New Horizon Ensemble pay tribute to friend and mentor Fred Anderson, saxophonist and owner of the Velvet Lounge in Chicago who passed away on June 24, 2010. Dawkins and company traverse a diverse landscape of musical moods, from jubilant buoyancy ("Hymn…
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Spohie Berkal-Sarbit opens matters on her latest CD, Young and Foolish, with a driving, swinging rendition of "I'm Gonna Live 'til I die." Sperandei's trumpet captures the essence of this arrangement as he twists and turns this tune upside down brilliantly with his rapid fire offerings. This number is a…
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A dog is a man’s best friend, indeed. And on this 2010 release, improvising sax great Lol Coxhill and eminent drummer/percussionist Roger Turner pay a bit of abstract homage to our much beloved canines. The improvisation is at times minimalist in scope, yet the continually moving parts equate into a…
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Lauren Hooker delivers a bold album full of interesting twists and turns. The surprises start early. She opens the album with a cool original that she kicks off but then turns over to poet Jeanette Curtis Rideau, who delivers a spoken-word performance. The track conjures up the feel and sounds…
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If you are like me, the last thing you are looking for in a modern jazz album is another run-out cut of “All The Things You Are.” During my first listen of Hiroe Sekine’s debut album A-mé, I found myself stopped in the middle of the street (I was walking…
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Toronto-area businessman Mario Romano studied music formally in the 1970s before being lured into the more lucrative world of cement and construction. Without ever losing his passion for jazz piano, Romano has managed to maintain a healthy dose of chops and a keen sense of arranging. Valentina, his debut recording…
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Back-when, there was a TV preview-trailer for the science-fiction movie The Blob (the original, not the 1980s remake) that scared the living [fill in blank] out of me. “The monster that can’t be killed,” screamed the icy voice-over. The Blob was this formless, massive organism that basically absorbed anything living…
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