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 piano player in Jones’ band for a period), Hogans focuses on the alto and soprano saxophones on this, his debut CD. Joined by an all-star backing band including Aaron Goldberg on piano, this recording tears
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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 makes the listening even more enjoyable."I'll Be Home For Christmas" evokes memories galore and only emphasizes the idea that Susie Arioli is a true jazz vocalist and should stick to that genre. S
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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 second ensemble featuring the more traditional organ trio with guitar and drums.Bianchi’s hard-bop quartet, tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, trumpeter Terell Stafford, and
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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 Explain. This is music for romance, to listen with that special someone.But Nicole and her band can swing too. Listen to the slow swinging version Sometimes I'm Happy, the upbeat swing arrangement of Too marvel
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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 Wilson’s Rainbow Big Band. With a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Composition in hand Iwaki worked mainly for the Caribbean Cruise line for the first three years following graduation. In 2008
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Barbara Martin’s CD, Eyes on the Horizon, is a jazz vocals that is marvelously and brilliantly mixed with a combination of swing, ballads, Latin, and a jazz waltz. It has been produced by Barbara Martin herself, as well as co-produced by Mac Walker. Barbara Martin’s songs are originals. She has written each and every song on this CD except for two: “Eyes on the Horizon,” written by Joel Evans, and “Painting a Picture,” written by Mac Walker. Within this CD, Barbara Martin holds on to what some m
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There’s more than meets the eyes and ears on this 2010 release by gifted trumpeter Peter Evans and his superfine band. In the liners, Evans states his plight which may be akin to rummaging through a salvage yard and retrofitting parts from classic cars into high--performance racers. It’s a stylistic methodology as the artist derives components from timeless standards by Jerome Kern and the piece “ICP,” which references the fabled and cutting-edge European band ICP Orchestra, among other comp
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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 others, including two originals, are related to the vibe of that famous recording. Rounding out the even dozen are five oft-recorded by Monk, including four of his own. The material is terrific. The arrangements, upda
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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 drummer Massimo Manzi.Besides being an excellent pianist with great knowlege of the jazz language, and flawless technique, Francesco is an accomplished composer. His compositions a
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The new project by Italian musician Claudio Scolari is a fascinating mix of acoustic and electronic sounds creating an almost cinematic atmosphere. For this album Claudio has the collaboration of Daniele Cavalca on drums, bass and vibraphone and Simone Scolari on trumpet.Scolari music, like the tracks Electric light over water and Emotion appearance can be described as improvised as avant-garde jazz but it is so much more. It has elements of classical music, and other jazz styles. For example Va
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Besides having a beautiful, sexy voice, and a nice phrasing influenced by jazz, pop and Bossa Nova, Kristine Mills is a wonderful composer. Her new album Bossanovafied is wonderful collection of original, romantic songs, heavily influenced by brazilian music. She even recorded most of the CD in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil with a group of talented musicians. The brazilian feel may be heard all over the album, like the Bossa harmonies on I Wish or the flute intro on That was yesterday. Jose Carlos Bigo
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The music on Matt Garrison new album Familiar Places is as impressive as the group of musicians playing on it. Besides Garrison, this album features Claudio Roditi on trumpet and Mark Whitfield on guitar among other amazing musicians. The opening track Try another day starts with amazing harmonies by Matt Garrison on sax and Bruce Harris on trumpet. Garrison, Harris and Zaccai Curtis take turns with good improvisations before getting back to the starting harmonies.A thoughtful attempt has a boss
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CD Review: Alva Nelson - Soul EyesAlva Nelson new album, Soul Eyes is a combination of mostly original compositions with some jazz classics. Nelson is a pianist with great technique equally good playing the fast tunes like Synonymous Dichotomy or the slow ballads like Soul Eyes, Some other time and Song for Keisha.Gemini Baby has sort of a slow samba feeling, a track with rhythms that invites you to dance. In contrast, Sanctified blues like the title suggests is a classic blues. Both are great c
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There are some great male singers in the history of jazz like Louis Armsrong Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and more recently, Harry Connick Jr., but male jazz singers have always been a minority. Well, there’s a new name to add to the list, talented singer/composer, piano and trombone player, Henry Darragh. Usually, jazz singers prefer to record recognized jazz standards instead of original compositions. Henry Darragh chose the hard way, recording mostly originals on his album, Tell Her for Me.Tel
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Caravan is the first track on Black Olive Jazz project View from telegraph hill. The arrangement of this classic, one of the most recognized and recorded in jazz history, has some interesting tempo changes with scats with Arabian influences by Kay Andreas. "Caravan" is a composition of Juan Tizol, Puerto Rican trombonist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and even though "Caravan" is regarded as one of the first latin jazz compositions, the original music already has an Arabian feeling. The secon
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Contemporary Italian saxophonist Marco Spedaliere’s latest album, Stories, encompasses a wide range of compositional styles from the free-form synth and saxophone tune, “Waiting Tomorrow”, to the 80’s sax homages, “Luoghi Comuni” and “Crypto”. Stories offers a nice glimpse into the contemporary jazz scene of twenty-first century Italy. Backed by a solid showing by bassist Davide Costagliola and pianist Dario Zeno, Spedaliere is able to produce a worthy modern take on the over the top “sax-centri
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Annie Kozuch surrounded herself with a group of great musicians for this album, but there is no doubt who is the star here. Annie is not just another beautiful voice, she is a versatile singer capable of singing in different styles and languages. Annie sings Jobim "Chega de saudade" and "Corcovado" in perfect portuguese, and with the perfect feel for Bossa Nova. In "I love being here with you" Annie vocals are powerful and playful with the addition of some exquisite scats. In "I'm through with l
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The music of this trio sounds so full and powerful. Since the first notes of the first track, "My heart stood still", everyone shine without getting in each others way, just like a jazz group should be. Some of the music is relaxing but intense at the same time like the music of the second track, "Who can I turn to". Michael Bates shows his great technique on the bass intro of "Last train to Brooklyn", giving way to the wonderful piano melodies on this Alex Levin original piece.Is the first time
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Robin Aleman new album In your eyes starts with a bang with the cool version of Irving Berlin Steppin out with my baby. Most of the song is just drums and Robin voice with impressive piano and drums solos by David Epstein and Brian Adler. In almost all the tracks Robin is accompanied by a trio of just piano, bass and drums. This format allows the listener to appreciate Robin beautiful tone and unique phrasing. Listen to the wonderful version of All or nothing at all or the bass and voice arrange
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Every once in a while one comes across a CD of such quality and beauty that restore your faith in music. Brenda Hopkins Miranda’s Memoirs from Granada is that kind of CD. A music jewel from beginning to end, in Memoirs from Granada, Brenda captivates the listener with an exquisite fusion of Jazz, music from Spain and of course, music from her country, Puerto Rico. Brenda Hopkins is a wonderful pianist, with extraordinary technique, equally impressive playing either Jazz, Rock, or Classical music
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Salvatore Bonafede is a jazz pianist born in Palermo, Sicily, in 1962. If you’ll pardon the reference to Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather, he made his bones at the Berklee School of Music, and with bosses Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, the late Lester Bowie, and John Scofield. He is of the generation(s) of jazz players from whom influences beyond jazz are not only not verboten, but to be relished and nurtured. To wit, Bonafede covers two slightly-off-the-beaten-trail Beatles' songs (w
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Morello and Barth is a partnership between guitarist and saxophonist/flutist that found its full expression in the land of the Bossa Nova. In 2001 the two went to Rio with the intent to be close to the music. Their experience, the hospitality, the collaboration, the creativity became “Fim De Semana Em Eldorado” (Weekend in Eldorado). This truly wonderful recording of Samba and Bossa Nova compositions bridges the old with the new. Two young musicians come together with the music of a country
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“Life of the Music” is Lauren Hooker’s second CD coming three years after her debut effort. The CD gives an expansive sampling of Ms. Hooker’s styles and skills as vocalist, composer and pianist. The CD features many of her own compositions executed by a talented list of musicians including John Hart on guitars, and a guest appearance of Mike Richmond on cello and acoustic bass, as well as many other players. Hooker’s vocal styling is unique and her lyrics lend themselves to that style. Whi
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When a group of musicians have been playing together for twenty years, there sometimes develops an intimacy in the music that transcends the work and is conveyed to the listener as a form of completed dialogue. On their sixth recording together, aptly called just “SIX”, the Stevens, Siegel & Ferguson Trio has just that kind of dialogue. The result is an evolved expression of their music that enables individuality and synergy within a shared dialogue space. On “SIX”, the trio blend a combin
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Described as the “Queen of Beale Street” by some, and “Memphis’ Queen of jazz, soul and pop” by others, Joyce Cobb earns any accolade that she has garnered over the years on her latest self-titled CD recorded with the Michael Jefry Stevens Trio. Ms. Cobb is a vocal talent that conjures up all sorts of images of the great jazz singers. Stevens, in an interview in the studio (Youtube) describes Cobb as “a cross between Billy Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald.” I couldn’t agree with him more. While th
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