New Jazz Adds – 8/27/2017
New Jazz Adds – 8/27/2017
John Beasley – Presents Monk’estra, Vol. 2 (Mack Avenue): Volume 2 of arranger and musical director John Beasley’s Monk’estra, this time featuring big band versions of ten Monk compositions, including “Crepuscule With Nellie”, “Evidence”, “I Mean You” and Dear Ruby” among others. The players include Bijon Watson, Jamie Hovorka, James Ford, Brian Swartz and Brandon Phillips (trumpets); Francisco Torres, Wendell Kelly, Ryan Dragon, Steve Hughes, and Ido Meshulam (trombones); Bob Sheppard, Danny Janklow, Tom Luer, Thomas Peterson, Adam Schroeder and Alex Budman (woodwinds); Ben Shepherd (bass), Terreon Gully and Gene Coye (drums) and John Beasley (piano, synthesizer. There are also guest appearances by Regina Carter, Kamasi Washington, Conrad Herwig, Dianne Reeves and Pedrito Martinez on one song apiece. The performance is smoother than Monk’s typically were, but this is a very nice tribute. I regret I am unable to find a sample from this disc.
Mauricio De Souza’s Bossa Brasil – Trajectorias, Live At Galeria West (Pitoca Music): This is Brazilian drummer Mauriciio’s fourth disc since moving to NYC thirteen years ago. This recording is a mellow and swinging live set featuring Dmitry Baevsky (alto sax), Jerry Weir (vibes), Gary Mazzaroppi (bass) and Bob Rodriguez (keys) joining in on three songs. The program brings together compositions by Tom Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Pat Metheny and Hermeto Pascoal. This performance is quite mellow for the most part, even on the faster numbers. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
John Dokes – Forever Reasons (Rondette Jazz): Vocalist John Dokes began singing professionally in 2005 with the George Gee Orchestra, releasing a disc in 2010. This is the follow up recording and it finds Dokes fronting a quartet that includes David Gibson (trombone), Steve Einerson (piano), Alex Claffy (bass) and Lawrence Leathers (drums). This release covers several songs from the American songbook, such as “September In the Rain”, “If I Only Had A Brain” (from “The Wizard of Oz”), and “You Don’t Know What Love Is” and a variation of more modern compositions, including one original by Dokes and Gibson. The band plays well and Dokes certainly hits the right notes, but his declarative style could use a little loosening to add more feeling. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Miles Donahue – The Bug (Whaling City Sound): Alto sax, flugelhorn, trumpet player and composer Miles Donahue presents a multi-styled, all original set of his own compositions. First and foremost, he shapes the sound by alternating his own instrument from reeds to brass. He also alternates players from one song to the next. He is typically classified as a post-bop or hard bop player, but on this disc he touches a broader palette than that might suggest. Other players are Tim Ray (piano), Tamir Shmerling (bass), Ralph Peterson and Larry Finn trading off on drums, Jerry Bergonzi on tenor sax (three songs) and soprano (one song) and Mike Stern on guitar on three songs. There is a lot to choose from here. Click here to listen to the title song.
Yelena Eckemoff Quintet – In The Shadow Of A Cloud (Self-produced): Composer/pianist Yelena Eckemoff considers herself to be an “old fashioned romantic” and has released numerous discs since leaving Russia to live in the US. This set is a double disc and features 14 original compositions performed by Eckemoff with Chris Potter (tenor, soprano sax, flute, bass clarinet), Adam Rogers (electric guitar), Drew Dress (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). The booklet also includes original written passages describing the subject of each song. The music is quite melodic and the ensemble gives a beautifully flowing performance with wonderful interplay. Click here to listen to the opening song and others.
Terry Gibbs – 92 Years Young: Jammin’ At The Gibbs House (Whaling City Sound): Ever wonder about what you’ll be doing when you 90? Well, composer/vibraphonist Terry Gibbs rounded up his son Gerry (drums), pianist John Campbell and bassist Mike Gurrola and cut this set of standards and three originals! Formerly, Gibbs played with Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, and Benny Goodman among others. He’s still quite spry these days and plays hot, cool and smooth. This group also supports him very well. The standards range from “The Shadow Of Your Smile” and “Autumn Leaves” to “Take The ‘A’ Train” and “Yardbird Suite”. It’s a wonderful session. Click here and scroll down to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Janet Lawson Quintet – The Janet Lawson Quintet (BBE): This is an augmented version of vocalist Janet Lawson’s first release. It offers six songs from her first release on Inner City in 1981 and four from “The Miles Davis Sessions”. Her vocals were mostly lyrics on the latter, but her style emphasized the instrumental aspect of vocals. The instrumental members of the band were Roger Rosenberg (soprano, alto, tenor baritone sax, flute, bass clarinet), Bill O’Connell (piano), Jimmy Madison (drums) and Ratzo Harris (bass). Both sets took the high road, pushing the boundaries and capabilities of vocal jazz. Her unique stylistic singing as if she were playing an instrument without resorting to scat or vocalese is fascinating. Click here to listen to the opening track and others.
Harold Mabern – To Love And Be Loved (Smoke Sessions): Memphis born pianist Harold Mabern has passed 80 but he still has agility, power and grace on the keyboard. Not only that, but according to Gary Giddins, “With the wind at his back, he can sound like an ocean roar.” He also knows how to pick bandmates with the same inclination and skill. Hard bop on this disc is hard bop. Accompanying musicians like Eric Alexander (tenor sax) and Freddie Hendrix (trumpet) can both shake the roof and build a flow like a waterfall. Add Nat Reeves (bass) and Jimmy Combs (drums) and you have a band that gets both the hard and the bop. Musical selections include oldies like Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn’s “To Love And Be Loved”, Lee Morgan’s “Gigolo” and McCoy Tyner’s “Inner Glimpse”, performing Bobby Timmons’ “Dat Dere” as a piano solo, blowing the sass of Miles’ “So What” into a hard bop classic of another kind and inviting Eric Alexander to unleash his “Iron Man”. The set is definitely a night out on the town! Click here to catch some samples and an introduction by the musicians.
Marcus Monteiro – Another Part Of Me (Whaling City Sound): Alto sax man Marcus Monteiro and his quartet offer their third release featuring three Monteiro compositions and covers of Horace Silver’s “Sister Sadie”, Ron Carter’s “Receipt Please”, Jimmy Smith’s “Sagg Shootin’ His Arrow”, Hart and Rodgers’ “Wait Till You See Her” and Michael Jackson’s “Another Part Of Me”. Supporting musicians include Fernando Huergo (electric bass) and Steve Langone (drums) and John Harrison III and Nick Sanfilippo switching off on (piano). The band describe themselves as “ a collaboration of Funk, Electronica, and Jazz to make people dance.” (sonicbirds.com) Click here and scroll down to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Andrew Scott Quartet – The Brightest Minute (Cellar Live): Guitarist Andrew Scott offers his third disc with the quartet that also features Jake Wilkinson (piano), Jon Meyer (bass) and Jeff Halischuk (drums). Scott composed all of the music on this release. The compositions are fresh and the quartet is fully in sync. This performance is wonderfully lyrical with Scott’s flowing style and the interaction with Wilkinson’s piano background and solos. The compositions are fresh and yet have a familiar ring as well. Delightful, bright quartet jazz with widespread appeal that should delight many listeners. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band – The Romeo and Juliet Project (Artist Alliance): Dana Landry, Professor of Jazz Studies and piano, decided that a great way to broaden the program and his students’ experience would be to perform a completely new work designed for them in the large band settling. The result was the Romeo and Juliet project, an original work composed by eight different writers, each of whom composed one segment or scene within the work. The only guideline was that no existing work could be played. The characters were to be rendered through entirely new musical statements. Landry served as the director of the performance group, the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band. There were also three special guest performers: Greg Gisbert (trumpet), Julia Dollison (vocalist) and Kenyon Brenner (tenor sax). All other players and soloists were members of the band. The sound is modern big band. The performance is excellent. Click here to listen to samples of the songs created for this program.
Matt Wilson’s Honey And Salt – Music Inspired By The Poetry Of Carl Sandberg (Palmetto): Drummer Matt Wilson has been a lifelong fan of the poetry of Carl Sandberg. According to Wilson, “Sandburg was a Renaissance man and a poet of the people…I feel sometimes that of all the celebrated American poets, he doesn’t really get his due.” Sandberg’s poetic style had its quirks and Wilson could just be the perfect one to celebrate the work. Poems such as “Soup”, “Paper I” and “Paper II”, “Choose” and “Anywhere And Everywhere People” are set to quirky music provided by Wilson, Dawn Thomson (voice, guitar), Ron Miles (cornet), Jeff Lederer (reeds, harmonium, voice), Martin Wind (acoustic bass guitar) and Wilson (drums, voice). Additional readers are Christian McBride, John Scofield, Jack Black, Rufus Reid, Joe Lovano and Carla Bley. There is even a recording of Sandberg reading “Fog”. Click here for an introduction to the disc.
Kopasetically,
Professor Bebop
