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.
Children categories
Achingly soulful with a hint of apathetic teenage angst, from top to bottom, Spiral drips with an honesty that has been lacking with many of the latest jazz offerings of the past decade. Trimmed out with guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Jamire Williams, Dr. Smith’s current touring band, the tunes…
Read more...
Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Pedro Bermudez is a pianist with lot of experience playing with salsa legends like Willie Rosario, Roberto Roena and the Puerto Rican Latin Jazz group Batacumbele.The opening track "Yuba a Santurce" is an homage to Pedro's town, Santurce. This is a piece with Bomba and…
Read more...
Well-traveled bassist Michael Formanek and his band-mates, here on The Rub and Spare Change, are accelerators of the new jazz with roots in New York City amid collaborations in the US and abroad for over three decades. An interesting composer and consummate idea man, Formanek highlights his cunning compositional prowess…
Read more...
Australia is a land of beautiful sights, kangaroos, and even some great rock bands like AC/DC, Inxs and Men at Work. But Jazz is not the first word that comes to mind when talking about Australia. Sydney native bassist Mark Costa might change that perception with his album Textures. Textures…
Read more...
On the surface, putting together a duo album seems like a pretty straight-ahead idea: you get some tunes together and head to the studio. All too often though, the mojo that keeps a duo album from going stale runs out. Without the collaboration that comes with putting together four or…
Read more...
Pianist and Denver, Colorado native Lisa Downing has spent time touring with new-age artists like Liz Story and Lee Bartley, as well as shared the program with other artists like David Lanz. Her collegiate music degree is a joint one between the University of Colorado at Denver and Metropolitan State…
Read more...
UCLA ethnomusicology graduate and New Orleans native, Sandra Booker was the first vocal student to receive the Julian Cannonball Adderley Memorial Scholarship. Since then, she has taught vocal workshops at universities like Cal State Northridge and Santa Monica Community College, as well as at various high schools. Professionally, you’ve probably…
Read more...
In the early 1970’s, Emerson, Lake & Palmer helped accelerate the burgeoning progressive-rock movement with dazzling technical acumen and a distinct convergence of classical, jazz and fundamental rock basics. They sold millions of LPs, although their elaborate and showy stage antics, at times diminished the band’s relevance. Ultimately, the world…
Read more...
Brazilian Voyage indeed hits some breezy, swaying Brazilian highlights, but there are stops in Germany, New York and, perhaps, Kentucky. Even the samba-like tracks are more worldly than usual. Brazil's most famous classical composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, is represented by "Trenzinho Do Caipira." It's from his collection Bachianas Brasileiras, which honored…
Read more...
Saxophonist Dan White began his musical studies on piano before switching over to the saxophone at a young age. Raised in Williamsville, NY, he is currently a junior at Ohio State University studying music. Fran’s Place is his first full-length self-released recording. The seven tunes were all recorded on one…
Read more...
What a better way to start Canadian singer/composer Laura Harrison's debut album Now Here, than with the extraordinaire interpretation and fabulous scats in the Sarah Vaughan song "Shulie a Bop." The hard swing, superb scats and amazing phrasing on this first track should tell you what's this lady is all…
Read more...
Acoustic and electric bassist Terje Gewelt hails from Norway, where he grew up in a small town on the southeastern coast. Starting on the guitar at the age of 10 he switched to the bass at age of 14 and never looked back. Studies with the great Norwegian bassist Arild…
Read more...
Vocalist and Ohio native Rita Edmond began singing in the church. Later studies with the highly regarded vocal teacher Evangeline Stewart only helped refine the four-octave vocal instrument that Rita has so sweetly polished over her career. A longtime experienced singer of R&B and pop demos for companies like Motown,…
Read more...
Saxophonist and pianist Brian Hogans has been making the jazz world take notice. The Morrow, GA native has worked with artists like James Williams, Winard Harper and as a regular in the Sean Jones Quintet. A switch hitter with fantastic abilities on both saxophone and piano (he subbed as a…
Read more...
Here it is the Jazzmas season and Susie Arioli's smoky message comes through with some classy Christmas tunes. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" features a lovely guitar solo by Jordan Officer that complements this touching chestnut to the max. Arioli treats this song like an old friend and that…
Read more...
Imagine that the classic quintet albums recorded by the late Tony Williams now have the following instrumentation: tenor saxophone, trumpet, drums and Hammond B-3 organ. This scenario makes up almost half the performances on Back Home, organist Pat Bianchi’s second release. This recording is balanced out when Bianchi leads a…
Read more...
Here's that rainy day is the debut album from California native singer, Nicole Lvoff. An album with delicate arrangements plus the crystal clear tone and sweet voice of Nicole Lvoff on songs like Darn that dream, Here's that rainy day, the slow and sexy Angel eyes and Billie Holiday Don't…
Read more...
It wasn’t until tenor saxophonist, flutist and clarinetist Takao Iwaki was 19 that he took his first private lesson. Late, by American standards for studying individually, Iwaki was eventually accepted by the Berklee College of Music where he studied with famed musician George Garzone and was a member of Phil…
Read more...
The Brad Linde Ensemble honors some of the jazz giants who emerged in the middle of the last century, most of them recognized instantly now by single names. This release features styles associated with Miles and Monk. Three of the tunes were on Davis's Birth of the Cool album. Four…
Read more...
After winning the 2008 International Massimo Urbani Award, Philology Records offered Italian pianist Francesco Marziani the opportunity of recording his debut. So here it is, the first album from one of the new italian jazz talents, Francesco Marziani. In My Own Sweet Way was recorded with bassist Massimo Moriconi and…
Read more...