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jazz adds may 26, 2016
Author: Ann Porotti
gregory porter. take me to the alley. blue note. Listen to this! all originals, from vocal luminary gregory porter as he drives the Broadway bus into the r & b archives–all with a light, smart touch. he can write music and lyrics. band includes singers alicia olatuja & lalah hathaway; keyon harrold, trumpet; chip crawford, piano; aaron james, bass; yosuke sato alto; tivon pennicott, tenor; ondrej pivec, organ. see insanity, in fashion, fan the flames.
michael dease. father figure. posi-tone. Terrific band supports a thoughtful playlist on trombonist michael dease’s tribute to influences, mentors: start with riff raff by grachan moncur iii, then claudio roditi’s bossa annette’s for sure, add in mulgrew miller’s wingspan. excellent alto work shared by markus howell and immanuel wilkins; glenn zaleski, piano; behn gillece, vibraphone; endea owens, bass; luther allison@drums.
black market trust. eponymous. self. Jazz strings– guitars, upright bass, violin–plus drums and more. great American songbook playlist goes after a relaxed grappelli/django vibe in 1920’s Paris.
terry vosbein. la chanson francaise. maxfrankmusic. French classics from the piaf/aznavour/brel/trenet portfolio produced and arranged by terry vosbein, produced by Washington & Lee University. lots of horns, but tucked away is the remarkably talented DC pianist tony nalker (also on Paulien.)
wide hive players. players please. wide hive. Berkeley, CA in the beginning, music, label, leadership from bass guitarist matt montgomery and composer/producer gregory howe. genre= dancing at a cool bar; extras= big funky horn sound, guitar force.
keefe jackson + jason adasiewicz. rows and rows. delmark. Lovely avant-garde duets from vibraphonist jason adasiewicz and tenor/ bass clarinetist keefe jackson. because confidence is important in the broadcast world, the cue a rose heading marries beautifully the vibes/ bass clarinet conversation; also worth the candle, where’s mine, cannon from the nothing suite.
lou caputo & not so big band. uh oh! jazz cat. Significantly big-gish band, a dozen counting lou caputo twice as leader, and multi-reedist. almost the best thing is the range & surprise of compositions: black nile of wayne shorter; guijira from chick corea; dexter gordon’s fried bananas; mary lou williams’ odd and charming, busy, busy, busy.
bruce torff. down the line. summit. Ensemble effort by keyboardist bruce torff with a seasoned band: joel frahm on tenor; pete mccann, guitars; ben wittman@drums, and lew soloff on trumpet. all originals by torff, the session, bittersweet, when soloff ( a veteran of frank sinatra & blood sweat & tears) passed away two weeks after recording.
sari kessler. do right. self. Debut recording from vocalist sari kessler, co- produced, and exquisitely liner-noted by favorite singer kate mcgarry. the key here is kessler’s emotional depth, unique delivery; the supporting cast never pales– nadje noordhuis on trumpet; john di martino, piano; houston person, tenor.
kat parra. songbook of the americas. jazz ma. A take-off on the great American songbook by Peruvian-born vocalist kat parra gathers some of the South Bay’s (CA) great artists to bring the playlist to life: tuck & patti for dare to dream; nate pruitt for a bossa till there was you; bassist aaron germain for betty carter’s signature please do something. the closer, a riotous mambo italiano, may be an aquired taste–but rosemary clooney was so good.
addison frei. transit. armoured. Not in Kansas anymore, pianist composer addison frei mixes his second release playlist with schubert (franz), parton(dolly) and mona lisa, the song. band is bass, perrin grace; matt young@drums; tahira clayton & janis siegel sharings the vocals.