WTJU 91.1 FM

New Jazz Adds – 8/6/2019

Antonio Adolfo – Samba Jazz Alley (Self-produced): Mellow samba led by pianist Antonio Adolfa features one original (“Obrigado”) and one shared composition tribute (“Hello, Herbie”). The other songs are all of a Latin flavor. Musicians include Lula Galvao (guitars), Jorge Helder (bass), Raphael Barata (drums), Dada Costa and Rafael Barata (percussion), Jesse Sadoc (trumpet, flugelhorn), Marcelo Martins (soprano and tenor sax), Marcelo Martins (alto flute) and Raphael Rocha (trombone). Mellow with a nice groove. Click here to listen to the opening song.

Phillip Bailey – Love Will Find A Way (Verve): “For a musical figure with an illustrious past and a busy present, Philip Bailey has somehow remained firmly focused on the future. “I look at my whole career as part of constantly building, maturing and growing,” explains Bailey. “For me, the gift of making music is all about evolving. It’s always been about taking that next step.” “From his childhood in Denver — not exactly a hotbed of R&B  — through decades productively creating, recording and performing a wide range of music both as a shining star with Earth, Wind & Fire and as a successful solo artist in multiple genres, Philip Bailey has consistently gone to all sorts of interesting musical places.”Once you get inside a form of music and understand where it’s coming from — its origin and all the people who make it  — there’s a world of people and sounds out there and music is the perfect chance for exploration. Music allows people to go places that perhaps they’ll never be able to travel to. But through the music, you can bring them a different part of the world, a different world of sound. I believe that’s part of the reason I am still excited and enamored with the world of music. The fact that I get to explore all these different types of music and experience all of these collaborations keeps my pulse going musically…. His forward-thinking approach to music, and to life itself, has been at the heart of Bailey’s solo career that began with 1982’s Continuation, and the 1984 platinum follow-up Chinese Wall, produced by Phil Collins and featuring their global smash duet “Easy Lover”. As Bailey — who also recently received an honorary doctorate from Columbia College in Chicago– says of his Berklee experience, “Those fantastic young musicians all taught me so much. And as long as I can keep learning, I feel I’m doing what I was put here to do.” (http://philipbailey.com/biography/) Click here to listen to “Once In A Lifetime” from this disc.

Chris Barber – Memories Of My Trip (Last Music):Chris Barber “is an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit, he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with Barber triggered the skiffle craze of the mid-1950s and who had his first transatlantic hit, “Rock Island Line”, while with Chris Barber’s band.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Barber) This set includes two discs of live performances spanning from 1958 through 2010 with Barber and band and special guests including Eric Clapton, James Cotton, Lonnie Donegan, Dr. John, Keith Emerson, Andy Fairweather Low, Rory Gallagher, Jeff Healey, Jools Holland, Mark Knopfler, Van Morrison, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Muddy Waters. He honors his guests and they certainly honor him. He is acknowledged as a major force in bringing the blues to England and beyond and in developing the “skiffle” style which influenced so many rockers from the Beatles and beyond. At this stage, Barber no longer performs, but this record of his earlier work and guests certainly makes the 93 year old musician one of the most influence musicians in the world. I regret I am unable to find a sample from this disc.

Dave Bass – No Boundaries (Whaling City Sound): Pianist Dave Bass began his career in “Boston’s Berklee College of Music, leaving after just a few months to study piano with the legendary Madame Margaret Chaloff. Madame schooled him and other young, immensely talented jazz artists as Keith Jarrett, Leonard Bernstein, Steve Kuhn and Kenny Werner, who understood the importance of developing a signature sound and style.” (http://www.davebassmusic.com/about/) He had a vibrant career until taking a fall in the1990’s which fractured his wrist and potentially ending his career. In fact, he left his career behind for roughly 10 years, until he determined to give it another attempt after playing piano at a party. This is his fifth release since that time and his technique and style are both terrific. He is backed by Ted Nash (flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano, alto and tenor sax); Karrin Allyson (vocals on two songs); Carlos Henriquez (bass), Jerome Jennings (drums on ten songs); Carlos Caro (guiro, bongos, bell on 5 songs); Miguel Valdes (bata, conga on 3 songs); and Mauricio Herrera (timbales, maracas on four songs). Lots of variety with eight Bass originals and covers of songs composed by Lennie Tristano, Ridgers & Hammerstein, Alejandro Rodriguez, Ernesto Lecuona and Bud Powell. Dazzling performances throughout. Click here to listen to the opening song on this release.

Will Boyd – Freedom, Soul, Jazz (Self-produced): This is multi-instrumentalist Will Boyd’s fourth release. He summarizes his musical background with his two major influences, Maceo and Charlie Parker and later a lot of Rahassn Roland Kirk! “If I had to describe my playing style, I would say it is similar to Rahassn’s when he decides to play one axe at a time!”  The most notable artists he performed with during this time was the funk drummer for Prince, John Blackwell, former Stax Records artist William Bell, solo gigs with Crissy Collins who had been a backup vocalist for Beyonce, and Fred Wesley former music director for Parliament/ Funkadelic, and James Brown! “I’m a huge trombone fan as well, my favorite trombone players include Fred, Wycliffe and Steve Turre”! (https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/index_new.php?url=willboyd&&width=1440) This release focuses on traditional songs ranging from “Every Time I Feel The Spirit” and “Go Down Moses” to “Marching To The Freedom Land” and “We Shall Overcome” with three original compositions. His presentations are familiar but performed in a unique style which firmly ties the jazz, gospel and politics together. The accompanying musicians shift from song to song in a most compelling way. The players include Kelle Jolly (voice, ukulele), Greg Tardy (tenor sax), Bobby Lyle (organ, piano), David Bivens and Larry Vincent (guitar), David Becher (bass), Ken Brown (drums) and Kevin Krapf (percussion). Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.

Richie Cole & Tony Monaco – The Keys Of Cool (Self-produced): Veteran alto sax player Richie Cole he joined drummer Buddy Rich’s Big Band in 1969 and after working with Lionel Hampton’s Big Band and Doc Severinsen’s Big Band, he formed his own quintet and toured worldwide, doing a great deal to popularize bebop and his own “alto madness” style in the 1970s and early ’80s. He formed the Alto Madness Orchestra in the 1990s. He has recorded over fifty albums during his career. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Cole_(musician)) This release features four compositions by Cole and two by B3 player Tony Monaco with the remainder from a variety of sources. The other players are Reid Hoyson (drums), Mark Lucas (guitar) and Noel Quintana (congas, bongos). The style is somewhat mellow and straight ahead jazz. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.

Electric Squeezebox Orchestra & Voices – Matter Is (Self-produced): The Electric Squeezebox Orchestra is a 17 piece big band based in the Bay Area that plays music composed and arranged by its members.  Led by trumpeter Erik Jekabson, the band has a residency every Sunday night at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley that began in March 2018.  Before that, the band had a residency at Doc’s Lab in SF from 2014-2018.  The E.S.O. currently consists of Erik, Niel Levonious, Darren Johnston, and Doug Morton on trumpets, Rob Ewing, Danny Lubin-Laden, Patrick Malabuyo and Richard Lee on trombones, Sheldon Brown and Larry Delacruz on alto saxes, Mike Zilber and Marcus Stephens on tenor saxes, Charlie Gurke on baritone sax, and the rhythm section of Steve Blum, piano; Jordan Samuels, guitar; Peter Barshay, bass; and Jeff Marrs on drums. (https://electricsqueezeboxorchestra.com/bio) This group has collected some powerful music to infuse with new focus. One wonderful example is their modernizing the music of Thom Bell and Linda Creed’s “People Make The World Go ‘Round” (originally released in 1972 by the Stylistics). The “Voices” – Avoteja, Kalil Wilson, Kenny Washington, Sandy Cressman and Madeline Eastmann certainly add intrigue, focus and power to this release. Just listen to “Who’s That Lady” dedicated to Betty Carter.

Wes Montgomery – Wes’s Best: The Best Of Wes Montgomery on Resonance (Resonance): This Resonance collection is drawn from Echoes of Indiana Avenue (2012); In the Beginning (2015); One Night in Indy (2016); Smokin’ in Seattle (2017); and Back on Indiana Avenue (2019). Twelve exquisite live Montgomery performances recorded between 1964 and beyond and each performance stands with the best of his performances. The players are not listed but the performances speak for themselves. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.

Idan Morim – I.M (Outside In Music): Guitarist Idan Morim has accomplished many years of study and having come to New York, he has distinguished himself among the many other talents there. He has established himself as an in-demand side-man and session player in the jazz and indie rock scene, all while cultivating his individual sound and original catalog.This is his first recording and all of the works are originals. In addition to his guitar, Morim is supported by Adam O’Farrell (trumpet), Almog Sharvit (bass), Colin Stranahan (drums) and Micha Gilad (piano, Fender Rhodes, Synths). The music is fresh and would easily fit the ECM mold. That being said, the sound is unique in many ways. This is a wonderful set with its own twists and turns. The interplay among the musicians is wonderful. Click here to listen to the songs on this release.

Yinon Muallem – Back Home (Galileo): “Back Home, Muallem’s latest record, certainly corroborates the notion that he has several strings to his creative bow and multiple channels to his artistic nous. It is not quite a matter of reinvention, but Muallem seems to be looking to access new audiences….“I don’t know if it is my most varied album, but I do know that I take a different direction with it. The fact that I only play oud – almost entirely only oud – on this is a big step.” In fact, Muallem does do his thing on several percussion instruments across the 10 tracks, but he leaves most of the percussive role in the highly capable hands of Maayan Doari, who also plays drums. The rest of the gang features vocalist Sivan Oshrat, husband Orel Oshrat on piano, and backing vocals, and Meni Welt on double bass.” (https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Oud-master-Yinon-Muallem-comes-Back-Home-594312) This melange is an enchanting mixture of the music in the Middle East. The players are Yinon Muallem (oud, percussion, vocal); Sivan Oshrat (vocal); Orel Oshrat (piano, vocal); Meni Welt (bass) and Maayan Doari (drums),with guests Eden Holan (vocal, 1 song); Ertan Tekin (duduk, 1 song) and Guy Mintus (piano, 1 song). It is enticing. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.

Ken Peplowski & Diego Figueiredo – Amizade (Arbors): “Having already traversed Brazil music with Charlie Byrd, Peplowski revisited with his new guitar pal with a duo set that just crackles with in the moment simpatico and spontaneity. Playing with and off each other like they’d been doing it for years, this is a smashing recital….” (https://www.amazon.com/Amizade-Ken-Peplowski/dp/B07PRZGCLS) The new guitarist is Diego Figueiredo and his playing is fluid and shifts from background to intertwining fluidity. They open with “Caravan”, offer three originals and cover songs from Antonio Carlos Jobim among others and even add “Stompin’ At The Savoy”.  Animated and delightful! Click here to sample the songs on this disc.

Various Artists – Jazz Piano Panorama: The Best Of Piano Jazz on Resonance (Resonance): The collection of pianists includes Dado Maroni, Donald Vega, Bill Evans Marian Petrescu, Tommy Flanagan, and Jaki Byard among others and the live and seemingly studio  performances float and fly across the disc. Everyone is in great form, but there is not much information about the other backing performers. That being said, there are fantastic performances on this disc. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Kopasetically,

Professor Bebop