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New Jazz & Blues – 3/29/2022
By Dave Rogers
New Jazz & Blues – 3/29/2022
New Jazz:
Mike Boone Quintet – Asynchronization Party (Truth Revolution): “The new masterpiece by the Mike Boone Quintet, entitled Asynchronization Party, is a reflection of Boone’s communal mantra where the whole of the group outweighs the needs of the individual. The brotherhood of musical genius that is showcased on this album consists of Adam Niewood on tenor saxophone, Elliot Bild on trumpet, Neil Podgurski on piano, Mekhi Boone on drums and Mike Boone on bass. While Mike and Mekhi Boone might be the nucleus for the formation of this group all members were given an equal voice with Elliot’s “Asynchronization” and Podgurksi’s original, “The Party” being the in the inspiration for the title and Mike Boone lent his knowledge to the process, arranging some of Elliot’s tunes. Young drumming sensation Mekhi Boone showcases his compositional talents with “Patchwork” and “Jomol’s Ladder,” further cementing the fact that he is a young talent that will continue to rise and will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. This album was put together under the duress of the pandemic, where the band had to rehearse separately, and then just an hour before the recording. Mike tells of his granddaughter explaining that Asynchronization is learning on your own time, but with a deadline, and that is exactly what was manifested with this record. Through the trials and tribulations of the pandemic we are fortunate enough to receive this wonderful musical offering that will be loved my many.” (https://trrstore.bandcamp.com/album/asynchronization-party) Click here to samples of the songs on this release.
Club d’Elf – You Never Know (Face Pelt): “To the naked eye, Club d’Elf looks exactly like a world-class instrumental band: five or six fierce players laying down heavy grooves and exploratory solos on distinctive original material, as audience members dance or listen in rapt attention. To its fans, however, and its large and colorful cast of musicians, D’Elf is all that and much, much more. The paradox and the power of the unusually named Club d’Elf become increasingly clear through repeated encounters. Unlike almost any other band, D’Elf’s personnel changes radically from show to show. Fans have their favorite configurations and players, but unlike groups where musicians’ tenures are finite, D’Elf-ians revolve in and out, reappearing in endless combinations. Beyond the cavalcade of characters, the music itself is in constant flux. Individual songs can vary dramatically from performance to performance as new alignments of players make every moment fresh. No two sets are alike. Yet the feeling and philosophy that animate D’Elf remain consistent, the product of the vision and dedication of leader Mike Rivard (aka Micro Vard) and the ongoing contributions of his talented collaborators. Devoted fans have been setting their clocks by the group’s bimonthly appearances at their home base, the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for twenty years now, and the message has traveled around the world… “You Never Know” is a trance-heavy meditation on finding light amidst the shadows. The band pay tribute to the music and musicians who have been heavy influences, with half the album being covers of Gnawa (trance music from North Africa), Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul, Moroccan band Nass el-Ghiwane, and Frank Zappa. The other half consists of original music inspired by leader Mike Rivard’s personal journey into darkness following a near death experience in the remote jungle of the Peruvian Amazon. Sessions were recorded live to analog tape in the studio with minimal overdubbing, with the result being the closest feeling of the band’s legendary live performances than any of it’s preceding fifteen releases. Musicians: Brahim Fribgane: oud, vocal, bendir, karakab, cajon, frame drum, dumbek; Mike Rivard: acoustic bass, sintir, electric bass, tamboura (7), chorus vocal (9); Dean Johnston: drums, chorus vocal (9); Duke Levine: guitar (1-4, electric mandocello & 6 string bass (3); Kevin Barry: lap steel (1-4); Paul Schultheis: Rhodes, Wurli, organ, Moog, clavinet, ARP Omni (1-4); John Medeski: Rhodes, Wurli, organ, Mellotron, clavinet (5-10), chorus vocal (9); David Fiuczynski: fretted and fretless guitars (5-10); Mister Rourke: turntables (2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10); Amit Kavthekar: tabla (6, 8); Andrew Fogliano: tenor sax (1, 8), bari sax, flute (8); Phil Grenadier: trumpet (1, 6, 8); Thorleifur Gaukur Davidsson: harmonica (3).” (https://clubdelf.bandcamp.com/album/you-never-know) Click here and scroll down to listen to “Dervish Dance”.
Julieta Eugenio – JUMP (Greenleaf Music): “JUMP is the debut album from astounding tenor saxophonist and composer Julieta Eugenio, who began her music journey in Argentina before relocating to New York City almost a decade ago. At the height of the pandemic, Eugenio began collaborating with bassist Matt Dwonszyk and drummer Jonathan Barber, meeting regularly to workshop her music. The trio soon developed an intricate trio chemistry forged around Eugenio’s brilliant and insightful compositions. Once it was safe to do so, the group hit the studio and recorded eight originals that cover a range of sentiments, from the introspective “Tres” to the ambiguously funky “Raccoon Tune.” The strength and maturity of Eugenio’s tenor concept comes across on two standards that round out the album; “Flamingo” and “Crazy He Calls Me.” This group takes the tenor-bass-drums trio configuration to new heights, covering a broad sonic palette and cementing Eugenio’s reputation as a composer and saxophonist.” (https://julietaeugenio.bandcamp.com/) Click here to listen to samples of three songs on this release.
Pat Mallinger – Perspectives (AFAR Music): “Pat Mallinger was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota and began playing the saxophone at 11 years of age. He received his Jazz Studies degree from North Texas State University on a “One O’clock Lab Band” Scholarship. He lived and performed in Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, and Japan, before establishing Chicago as his home in 1990. He is a co-leader of Sabertooth, which has been the mainstay band at the Green Mill Lounge each Saturday night from 1992 to 2018. Pat now leads the Saturday night band at the Green Mill as Pat Mallinger’s Late Night Jazz Party. He is also heard around Chicago performing with the Bobby Lewis Quintet, Model Citizens Big Band, and his own quartet to name a few. Pat performs concerts and festivals nationally and internationally both as a bandleader and sideman. Since 2013 each month, Pat and his wife Tamara host sold-out jazz concerts in their home. In addition to leading the Ravinia Jazz Mentor Program founded by Ramsey Lewis, Pat Mallinger offers private saxophone lessons either in his Chicago studio or online. Pat also offers workshops and masterclasses on improvisation and composition.” (https://patmallinger.com/bio/) The players include Pat Mallinger, Brent Griffin Jr, and Lenard Simpson (alto saxes), Richard D. Johnson (piano, Fender Rhodes), John Tate (bass) and Xavier Breaker (drums). Click here to listen to a live performance a few months ago.
Myra Melford’s Fire and Water Quintet – “For The Love Of Fire And Water” (Rogue Art): Line-up: MYRA MELFORD piano; INGRID LAUBROCK sax; MARY HALVORSON, guitar; TOMEKA REID cello; SUSIE IBARRA drums; Visionary pianist Myra Melford taps into the elemental nature of inspiration for her exhilarating new project, Fire and Water. The all-star ensemble convenes five of the leading voices in contemporary improvised music: Melford, guitarist Mary Halvorson, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Susie Ibarra. All five women are innovative composers and bandleaders in their own rights as well as being gifted and venturesome improvisers, providing this ensemble a myriad of pathways to explore. Melford has taken full advantage of these uniquely expansive possibilities, crafting a suite of new music that fluidly traverses the borders between notated composition and guided improvisation.” (https://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances/view/7313-myra-melfords-fire-and-water-quintet-f-mary-halvorson-ingrid-laubrock-tomeka-reid-and-susie-ibar) Click here to listen to samples from this release. I found that there is significant wait time and clicking more than one time can help.
Sean Nelson’s New London Big Band – “Social Hour!” (MAMA Records): “Led by trombonist and composer Sean Nelson, The New London Big Band is a 17-piece jazz orchestra made up of the finest musicians in New England many of whom are in the US Coast Guard Band. Formed in 2016, the band plays a mix of classic jazz standards, upbeat dance tunes, and original music by band members, and regularly features instrumental and vocal soloists.The concert will feature the live premiere of their latest and first studio album “Social Hour!”, an homage to the band’s regular performance spot, The Social Bar + Kitchen in New London, Connecticut. The concert features all original music composed by the band members. The band’s classic big band jazz instrumentation, features vocalist Megan Weikleenget, a soprano soloist with the Coast Guard Band, augmented by unusual instruments, including the tárogató (Romanian folk instrument), electric trombone, alto flute, harp, and a large trombone choir, performed in antiphonal-style surround sound. Selections will be a mix of classic jazz and swing blended with some adventurous and cutting edge sounds, including titles such as “Freaks in Mayberry,” “Brisket and Beans,” and “Every Possible History of the Universe.” Click here to listen to one or more songs from this release.
Stefan Pasborg – Ritual Dances (Sunnyside): “Ritual Dances is an album by drummer and composer Stefan Pasborg, based on the works of Igor Stravinsky. The pieces are performed by two large ensembles: the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and Blood Sweat Drum+Bass, and are augmented by a number of impressive guests. Regarding this new release, Sunnyside Records states, “Stefan Pasborg’s reinvention of Igor Stravinsky’s iconic works from The Rite of Spring and The Firebird are as brilliant as they are invigorating. Ritual Dances doesn’t rewrite Stravinsky, so much as bring his work into the 21st century in a bombastic style. In this short statement, we have all the needed keywords to grasp this excellent release:
Iconic works: Stravinsky wrote the music for the two ballets, The Rite of Spring and The Firebird, which, along with Petruska, allowed him to achieve international fame and became some of the major pieces of the 20th Century.
Reinvention: Stefan Pasborg has not retread old ground but has instead reinvented and restructured the work to fit into the 21st century while keeping a Big Band mindset.
Bombastic style: If at its first representation in 1913, The Rite of Spring provoked a vociferous reaction in the theatre, Ritual Dance will certainly do the same in 2022, this time not of hostility but in search of room to dance.
Stravinsky explored harmonies and rhythms through his works, which certainly explains why Stefan Pasborg was profoundly seduced by Stravinsky’s ballets. Therefore, Pasborg’s intention to reinvent those pieces makes sense—and even more so by inviting all the selected guests, as well as the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, and the Blood Sweat Drum+Bass ensemble. That’s how big his ambition was! The result is clearly a success: a mixture of Ibrahim Electric, Igor Stravinsky, and Big Band, in a galactic, bombastic album with plenty of groove and pleasure, packaged in an iconic piece of music.” Click here to listen to the music on this amazing disc.
Dan Perantoni Tuba – Lovin’ and a Swingin’ (Daniel Perantoni): “Daniel Perantoni, Tuba-Provost Professor, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. Dan or “Mr. P” as his students call him is a legendary tuba artist, teacher, and pedagogue as well as a trailblazer in a variety of genres including work as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, jazz musician, and instrument design. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the executive board of T.U.B.A. A true legion of former students holds prestigious positions in major performing ensembles and music schools around the world. Their success is the best testimony to his abilities as a teacher, mentor, and friend. He is cited as a “tubist’s tubist,” featuring his playing a “lyrical, clear, and singing tone, along with his impeccable musical style.” Daniel Perantoni has been a featured artist in Carnegie Hall, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Spoleto Festival U.S.A., the Adelaide Festival in Australia, the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, the Montreux Brass Congress in Switzerland, and recently as a soloist throughout Europe and Asia. He is a founding member of the Summit Brass, Symphonia, the St. Louis Brass Quintet, the Matteson-Phillips Tubajazz Consort, and has released numerous solo albums and chamber music CD’s.” (https://danperantoni.bandcamp.com/releases) The players on this disc are Dan Perantoni (Tuba), Rob Dixon (Tenor sax), Rusty Burge (Vibraphone), Sandy Williams (Acoustic and electric guitars), Steve Allee (Piano), Jeremy Allen (Bass) and Steve Houghton (Drums). Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens – In Common III (Whirlwind): “The third iteration of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III and guitarist Matthew Stevens’ In Common project is another delightfully lyrical and inventive affair. Each of the albums presents Smith and Stevens in the company of a different three-piece rhythm section. The first had vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Marcus Gilmore. The second had pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Nate Smith. On In Common III, the quintet is completed by pianist Kris Davis, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Aside from the rolling sequence of rhythm sections—an inadequate term in this context given the subtle to and fro between traditional frontline and backline roles—the other part of the In Common formula is what Smith and Stevens call “one-page songs,” written with specific musicians in mind. However, In Common III differs from earlier albums in two ways: Davis’ presence causes it to lean towards free improvisation from time to time, and, while the sound is overwhelmingly acoustic, there is some judicious post-production electronic knob-twiddling on a few of the shorter tracks (there are fifteen tracks in all, with a total running time of fifty-four minutes).
But essentially, In Common’s self-regenerating formula is unchanged. The music continues to be melodic and harmonious, with Davis’ diversions into harmonic abstraction measured and well-integrated. Liberties are more often taken with meters than with tonality—and mostly, as on the lovely piano feature “Shutout,” Davis stays inside rather than out. The material ranges from the early Terry Riley-esque “Orange Crush” through grown-up groove and ostinato driven swingers. The pervasive vibe is playful and relaxed, that of five empathetic intergenerational master-musicians having fun while gently pushing the envelope.” (https://www.allaboutjazz.com/in-common-iii-walter-smith-iii-and-matthew-stevens-whirlwind-recordings) A truly exceptional addition to Whirlwind’s catalogue of adventurous albums by international artists made much the more enjoyable by the leader’s mischievous sense of humour that can be experienced as much on the album’s cover as in the music.” Other comments: ”One-Off Quintet Makes Unique, Ego-Free Jazz… Uncommonly good.”
(Musically Speaking) “A sterling example of interplay and individual improvisations.” Glide Magazine “Full of ideas and themes… Dynamically varied in pitch, tone, and texture. Some tracks have the feel of a vignette, others of a fully formed picture.” SimplyJazzTalk (Press Highlights) Click here and scroll down to listen to the songs in this set.
Angela Verbrugge – Love For Connoisseurs (Gut String Records): “Angela Verbrugge gives singers like Lorraine Feather a run for their money with her witty lyrics on her originals. She is fun and quirky, hip and a hoot, wispy and romantic: she slithers, and oozes while putting a rose between her teeth. In the Archie Comics of life, this lady is a bubbly Betty.” (George Harris) All twelve songs on Love for Connoissuers feature Canadian Angela Verbrugge’s original lyrics to either new or existing jazz compositions by modern-day composers. Her vision for this project was to create new vocal jazz repertoire by collaborating with composers that write innovative, yet catchy, melodies in the style of the classic jazz standards. Angela listened to thousands of hours of music in jazz clubs and online in order to find and select these songs that would be a fit for both her storytelling style as a lyricist and vocalist. She composed three of her own tunes, as well. One song is a French language adaptation of the title track from her first record. The six composers she teamed up with are some of the best bebop-oriented jazz musicians on the scene today: New Yorkers Ken Fowser, Nick Hempton, Ray Gallon, and Neal Miner, and Vancouverites Miles Black and Saul Berson. Angela’s dream is that these songs could become enduring and modern additions to jazz standards’ songbooks, and that other vocalists and instrumentalists will want to perform these tunes. She hopes to hear from listeners that the music and stories on Love for Connoisseurs resonates with them.” (https://angelaverbrugge.com/love-for-connoisseurs-epk-coming-march-2022) Click here to listen to “Enough’s Enough” from this release.
Mark Wade Trio – True Stories (Mark Wade Music): “Mark Wade has advanced the art of jazz composition by drawing source material directly from the Western canon and spinning it into fodder for the bassist’s progressive-leaning trio with pianist Tim Harrison and drummer Scott Neumann. The highly original music heard on their latest group effort, True Stories, incorporates themes from Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Igor Stravinsky and other jazz and classical maestros whose writing has inspired and influenced Wade, an orchestral-level, genre-crossing instrumentalist who has assumed a leadership role in promoting the work of emerging jazz and classical composers via his 8-year-old concert-presenting organization New Music Horizons, and whose tension-free proficiency on electric and upright basses alone has earned the admiration of audiences extending well beyond his home base of New York. The landmark 1960s Davis quintet album Miles Smiles, the first jazz record Wade ever purchased, served as inspiration for the inventive spirit at play on the hard-hitting, ostinato-driven leadoff track, “I Feel More Like I Do Now.” “Falling Delores,” an epitome of elegance, connects two Wayne Shorter tunes (“Fall” and “Delores”) to an original theme by Wade. “The Soldier And The Fiddle,” inspired by Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, is a Wade original that borrows the iconic Russian composer’s signature technique of juxtaposing a steady underlying pulse against perpetually shifting meters. Weather Report enters the story on “In The Market,” a stylistic merger of exciting turns and twists that finds the trio splicing scenes from the seminal fusion group’s landmark 1976 album Black Market. The altered blues “Piscataway Went That-A-Way” brings Fred Hersch’s angular swinger “Swamp Thing” back to life, while “A Simple Song” bears personal touches of the late pianist and composer Frank Kimbrough (who was Wade’s teacher at NYU). The two-parter “Song With Orange & Other Things” combines a Wade original designed to sound like something Mingus would have written with an actual Mingus composition (the 1960 big band noir-bopper “Song With Orange”). “At The Sunside,” the last of this album’s true stories, borrows its first few notes from “Solokvist,” an upbeat instrumental rocker penned by Swedish soprano saxophonist Mikael Godee for the Scandinavian group CORPO, which included Wade on its 2018 European tour. In essence, Wade turned directly to his roots in order to find a new way forward with True Stories, interweaving his heroes’ eminently familiar melodic threads and textures with his own personal statements — and incorporating it all into a larger, living work of modern art.” (https://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/true-stories) Click here to perform several live songs of songs in this release.
Various Artists – Black Lives – From Generation To Generation (Jammin’colorS): “25 musicians from the United States, Caribbean and Africa each compose a song to fight against systemic racism in the world – Music is a solid freedom. It is vital. It unites us. It helps us handle fear and anger and brings us joy. Music was an essential part of the civil rights movement. At rallies, in moments of victory and even in jail, civil rights leaders and participants turned to music to boost their morale and bring people together. Black artists have played an essential role for hundreds of years in shaping American music and in battling inequality and racism. Today, we still listen to Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Archie Shepp, Bob Marley, Odetta Holmes, Charles Mingus, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Myriam Makeba, James Brown, Mahalia Jackson, John Lee Hooker… Sadly, their songs are still relevant. The deaths and injustices keep on coming. “BLACK LIVES – FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION“ is a collective of artists who are continuing to fight for equality and social justice through music.” (https://www.jazzhalo.be/articles/black-lives-from-generation-to-generation/) Click here for in an introduction to this unifying insight.
New Blues:
Bubba And The Big Bad Blues – Drifting (Fullerton Gold Records): “Bubba and the Big Bad Blues is a SoCal based original Blues Rock band influenced by Freddie King, SRV, Allman Bros, The Meters & Gov’t Mule. Bubba’s powerful vocals, impressive guitar work and veteran rhythm section forge an electrifying hybrid of smokin’ Texas Blues, So Cal Blues Rock and New Orleans R&B funk.The band’s self-titled debut studio album is a prime example of their power and proficiency. Their new record releasing March 4th 2022 produced by Tony Braunagel and featuring Tony, Mike Finnigan and the Phantom Blues horns will blow you away! Christopher “Bubba” Clerc (guitar,vocals) is backed by Jason “JR”Lozano (drums), Doug “Mug” Swanson (bass) and a variety of other players. Click here to listen to a songs on this disc.
Albert Castiglia – I Got Love (Gulf Coast Records): “I Got Love was produced by Gulf Coast Records guitarist and co-owner Mike Zito and features a stellar cast of musicians backing Albert Castiglia (guitar and vocals): Justine Tompkins (bass and vocals); Ephraim Lowell (drums and vocals) and Lewis Stephens (Hammond B3 organ and piano). The new album, which showcases 11 blistering, blues-drenched tracks, is a personal and powerful statement from Castiglia. “I Got Love is a musical essay documenting the last two years of my life: two years of many highs and lows,” Castiglia offers. “It’s about falling, failing, adapting, reinventing, surviving and becoming triumphant. It contains musings of an unemployed man, a covid-stricken idiot and getting through it like Andy Dufresne in ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’ The blues and blues-infused music is rooted in truth. This album is my truth. To ignore the events of the past two years (the covid era) and write about anything else would not be my truth. I went through it all – loss, depression, illness, fear of the unknown. I know I couldn’t have been the only one that went through it. This collection of songs is for those who felt like I did. It’s for those who went down fighting and those who keep on fighting. For many of us in my profession and in the gig economy, this was our great depression. Some of us are doing well and some of us are still trying to find solid ground.“This album is for everyone. It’s also a thank you to those who helped keep us alive; the folks that contributed to my virtual shows and took guitar lessons from me. This album’s also for Rick Lusher, who retired from the radio promotions business and handed the keys over to my wife at a time when we really needed it. It’s about love, gratitude and becoming a better person from the shittiest of circumstances. It’s my blues in its truest form.” (https://bluesrockreview.com/2022/01/albert-castiglia-announces-i-got-love.html) Click here to listen to the opening song on this release.
Tim Gartland – Truth (Taste Good Music): “‘TRUTH’ was recorded at The Rock House in Franklin, TN and produced by Grammy Award winner Kevin McKendree. Joining Gartland on the album are Kevin McKendree (Delbert McClinton, Brian Setzer) on keyboards, electric rhythm guitar and background vocals; Kenneth Blevins (John Hiatt) on drums, Steve Mackey (Delbert McClinton, Wallflowers) on bass. Holding down the guitar chair is Robert Frahm (Blues Warriors). Ray Desilvis adds acoustic slide guitar and background vocals. Bryan Brock provides percussion and last, but not least, Top Ten finalist on NBC’s “The Voice”, Wendy Moten on background vocals. The twelve songs on the album, blending blues/soul/roots rock and country, were all written or co-written by Tim Gartland, and were recorded in just two days to capture the intimate, immediate and natural sound of a group of great musicians creating music in a terrific sounding live room. The album’s lead track, “Don’t Mess With My Heart” (co-written with Pat Gartland) is a Rolling Stones-like rocker with a message to his woman to be more sincere with her affections. “When we’re two, things are cool/When you’re gone, I’m just your fool/Love ain’t a light you can turn off and on”. The socially relevant soul groove “The Thing About The Truth”, co-written with Karen Leipziger, shines a light on the importance of embracing truth. “The promises you never kept should have been a clue/The web of lies and half-truths I should have seen right through/Seeing what you wanted me to I wanted to believe/Smoke, mirrors and sleight of hand designed to deceive”. The vintage rhythm and blues song “Cloudy With The Chance Of Blues” (co-written with McKendree) finds a man who regrets his role in a romantic break up and is convinced than the weather is conspiring against him to teach him a lesson. And on Tim Gartland/Ray Desilvis’ “One Love Away”, he encourages lonely listeners that are trudging through their life, that love, and all its promise may be right around the corner. The music on TIM GARTLAND’s TRUTH is a culmination of a lifetime dedicated to the craft of writing and playing roots/blues music that began when Gartland entered his teens. Seeing Muddy Waters in concert in his home state of Ohio at age 13 proved to be a life changing experience that would inspire Gartland to learn the blues on the harmonica and begin his musical journey. Upon moving to Chicago after graduating college, Gartland immersed himself in the Chicago roots/blues scene. He studied with famed harmonica player, Jerry Portnoy (Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton) and played with such greats as Bo Diddley, Carey Bell, Big Jack Johnson and Pinetop Perkins. Gartland has been deeply influenced by the “greats” –Little Walter for his harp playing, Ray Charles for his interpretation of a song, Willie Dixon for his songwriting…. And now it’s time for TIM GARTLAND’s TRUTH. It promises to be his best work ever. “You can’t hide the truth forever/It eventually comes out…Facts are facts/There’s no spinning that/That’s the thing about the truth”. (https://www.timgartland.com/) Click here to check out “The Thing About The Truth”.
Love Light Orchestra – Leave The Light On (Nola Blue): “Following their acclaimed 2017 live album, the Love Light Orchestra returns with their sizzling studio debut! The Memphis big band blues sound shines in this collection of nine originals and one radically reworked cover.” Figure that for yourself, but you’ll at least get a list of the players: John Nemeth (vocals), Joe Restivo (guitar), Gerald Stephens (piano tracks 1-4, 7-9), Al Gamble (piano tracks 5, 6, 10), Tim Goodwin (upright bass tracks 1-3, 5-7, 10), Matthew Wilson (bass guitar tracks 4, 8, 9), Earl Lowe (drums), Marc Franklin (trumpet, horn arrangements), Scott Thompson (trumpet tracks 1-3, 5-7,10), Paul McKinney (trumpet tracks 4, 8, 9), Jason Yasinsky (trombone), Art Edmaiston (tenor sax) and Kirk Smothers (bari sax, sax and alto sax). Click here to listen to the songs on this set.
Walk That Walk – You Good.?! (Self-produced): “Featuring core WTW players, Poppa C DeSnyder and special guest Pappy Biondo (of Cabinet) ripping the blues/roots strings – and standout Ray Paczkowski (of Soule Monde) on keyboards – You Good.?! is a remarkable new collection of nine originals humming with blues-infused roots rock and Americana. Recorded at Sugarhouse Soundworks, this is an exceptional record that is sure to create lots of buzz.” (https://walkthatwalk.hearnow.com/) Click here to listen to the songs on this release.
Kopasetic,
Professor Bebop