Dave Stryker Messin With Mister T Strikezone Records In 1980 guitarist Dave Stryker left Nebraska and moved to New York City. He joined Jack McDuff’s band and toured with him from 1984 to 1985. From 1986 thru 1995 and again from 1998 thru 2000 Stryker toured with tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. Today bandleader Stryker leads […]
– www.RaphaelWressnig.com The young Wressnig’s previous recording “Soul Gift” was successful, and if you enjoyed that disc you should definitely appreciate his latest “Soul Gumbo.” Veteran players (many from around The Big Easy) are featured: Walter “Wolfman” Washington, George Porter Jr., Larry Garner, Stanton Moore, with longtime Crescent City pianist Jon Cleary. Added to the […]
John Tropea “Gotcha Rhythm Right Here” STP Records www.JohnTropea.com If you are not already familiar with his name, you’ve probably heard John Tropea’s guitar on famous recordings by Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Paul Simon, Laura Nyro, Van Morrison, Phoebe Snow, Lyle Lovett, James Brown, David Ruffin, Chaka Kahn, Roberta Flack, Donny […]
Through The Streets of the City New Orleans Brass Bands Smithsonian Folkways Recordings This is the newest album from Smithsonian Folkways’ African-American Legacy series. Included is a 34 page booklet authored by Dr. Michael White. He is a jazz music historian but also a clarinetist, composer, bandleader, producer and educator. He has six albums under his […]
Three New Releases from Hendrik Meurkens German born Hendrik Muerkens now lives in upstate New York. Originally a vibraphonist in the tradition of Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson Meurkens was inspired by the sound of Toots Thieleman’s harmonica. Today the self taught Meurkens is considered the most important jazz harmonica player since Thielemans. Meurkens was […]
Cyrille Aimee It’s A Good Day Mack Avenue Records This is the major label debut of jazz vocalist Cyrille Aimee. Vocally Aimee is a bit like Madeleine Peyroux but Aimee’s music is rooted in the gypsy guitar of Django Reinhardt. She also has affection for Brazilian guitar, and thus an understanding of bossa nova and […]
Phil Bowler & Pocket Jungle Phil Bowler & Pocket Jungle Zoho Music Phil Bowler is a Grammy winning bassist and sideman who played in the bands of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Horace Silver, Hilton Ruiz, and Wynton Marsalis, among many others. Twenty years ago Bowler also had his own jazz ensemble called “Pocket Jungle”. Now they […]
A 2014 Musical Grab Bag of Jazz, Blues and Rocking Christmas Holiday Stocking Stuffers: Marilyn Scott “Get Christmas Started!” Prana Entertainment www.MarilynScott.com Scott digs deep for several well performed and way-back Christmas covers. For example not one but two Leon Russell Christmas covers that were actually released as A and B sides on a seven-inch […]
Peaches and Crime are tapping into a new genre that might be called “dark Americana.” On their new CD, “Do Bad Things,” they take us back to Victorian and Edwardian Vaudeville to celebrate some dark and funny territory. The CD is structured like a turn of the 20th century vaudeville show, complete with introductions by […]
Alex Belhaj’s Crescent City Quartet Sugar Blues Alex Belhaj Music I first went to New Orleans in 1995. I thought it would be great if I got to see Joe Krown playing piano at The Maple Leaf. I didn’t think I was really into Jazz except where it crossed with the Blues. After going to […]
Bill Frisell “Guitar in the Space Age!” Okeh Records – Sony – www.BillFrisell.com Title this recording as (updated) memorabilia of the fifties and sixties, it plays like an AM radio jukebox from the same era, but radiates a current and unique vibe. No matter; set your way-back machine(s) and enjoy the modernized and respectful (all-instrumental) […]
Rob Paparozzi & The Ed Palermo Big Band Electric Butter/Play the Music of Butterfield & The Electric Flag Independent Rob Paparozzi, vocals and harmonica, is a New Jersey based session musician who has toured with “The Original Blues Brothers Band” and also as lead vocalist in the reformed “Blood, Sweat and Tears”. He has played […]
Jaco Pastorius “Modern American Music … Period! The Criteria Sessions” Omnivore Recordings Jaco Pastorius’ major solo debut appeared in 1976 on Epic Records, many of the tracks had their beginning two years earlier when a twenty-two year-old Pastorius booked time at Criteria Studios to work out songs and jam. Eventually six of those session tracks […]
Catherine Russell Bring It Back Jazz Village Catherine Russell is a Jazz singer who will appeal to Blues aficionados. It has been a long time since Jazz has had a singer like Russell. Russell is the daughter of Luis Russell the former musical director for Louis Armstrong. Her father died when she was very young […]
Cannonball Adderley “The Black Messiah” Live at the Troubador – 1972 – 2 CD’s www.RealGoneMusic.com The year was 1972 when Cannonball Adderley’s quintet (there were more than five musicians) took the stage with Cannonball’s alto and soprano saxes, brother Nat’s cornet, a rhythm section of Roy McCurdy’s drums, Walter Booker’s bass, and direct from a […]
Mack Avenue Superband Live From The Detroit Jazz Festival 2013 Mack Avenue Records The Mack Avenue Superband is an ensemble of jazz artists from the Mack Avenue roster. Each of these participants is a seasoned leader in their own right. This album documents a live concert at Detroit’s Hart Plaza. Virbraphonist Warren Wolf composed “Soul […]
2014 Montreal Jazz Fest – 35th Edition July 2nd – 4th, 2014 The Legacy Continues This is/was my sixteenth consecutive Montreal Jazz Fest, and it began at Club Soda within the funky neighborhood that also borders Chinatown on Saint-Laurent Boulevard where the relative newcomer to the Blues Matt Andersen and his band took to the […]
Davina and the Vagabonds are different from the very start. There are no guitars in the group, which consists of Davina Sowers on piano and vocals plus horns, drums, upright bass and even sousaphone and vibraphone. The analog sound on their new CD, Sunshine, is excellent and the acoustic nature of the music adds to […]
Davina & the Vagabonds Sunshine Roustabout Records I first heard Davina & The Vagabonds at Boston’s On The Beach in Delray Beach, Florida. Originally from Key West Davina Sowers spent her formidable years in and around Minnesota’s twin cities where she studied to be a classically trained pianist. Sowers is a prolific songwriter and her pop […]
The Vince Guaraldi Trio “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” Fantasy – www.ConcordMusicGroup.com The background storyline here is almost as fascinating as the music contained. “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” was written for a 1964 TV program, but it never saw the light and never aired on television. Equally fascinating that very same year of 1964 […]