jazz adds november 3, 2014
By Ann Porotti
hal galper . o’s time. origin. Jazz pianist hal galper– been around since early work with Sam Rivers + others in Boston– here forms a trio with Seattle-ites– jeff johnson, bass; john bishop, drums. the setlist, mostly covers, showcases galper’s formidable piano talents; he dives deeper than i could follow into the theory of rhythm pyramids and rubato timing.
moon hooch. this is cave music. hornblow/palmetto. A little goes a long way— but like Cape Cod potato chips + Reyka vodka–hard to walk away from it. a second release of trio moon hooch–who are wenzl mcgowen, michael wilbur, james muschler. excess of blowing horns, madness percussion that suddenly gives way to pet shop boys tenderness. playing in RVA, Nov 19 @ The Broadberry.
wally schnalle. idiot fish. city hall. Jazz fusion from San Fran. CA drummer/electronica/composer wally schnalle working with area musicians: Bulgarian/Belgian hristo vitchev leads the cues with his guitar voicings; joe constantini, bass; frank martin@drums.
john david simon. phantasm. warm groove. Organ trio & then some from tenor leader john david simon; core group includes lewis nash@drums, pat bianchi on B3 with john hart’s guitar sharing the melody with simon’s flute on horace silver’s peace.
chris walden. full-on. origin. German-born composer/arranger/conductor leads his big band (20+) through a playlist of originals and unknown knowns* (*donald rumsfeld). slick & smooth with guest vocalists melanie taylor, tierney sutton, multi-grammy award winner, walden has shaped the tunes of diana krall, jennifer hudson, “american idol“. vocals are this recording’s strength.
greg abate. motif. whaling city. Mostly original compositions that showcase New England musician greg abate’s talented ease with alto, soprano, flute & bari. generous cuts that allow tim ray on piano, bassist john lockwood & mark walker@drums to linger in the spotlight.
jeff coffin. side up. ear up. Reed specialist jeff coffin’s (alummus of bela’s flecktones, and current DMB player) second release with fusion band: originals playlist, mogador and the scrambler are stand-outs–with coffin deftly on soprano. bill fanning, trumpets; roy wooten@ drums; felix pastorious, bass; chris walters, master of all keyboards.
wayne horvitz. at the reception. songlines. High energy, wailing tribute to cornetist/jazz improviser butch morris (1947-2013) from conductor/multi-genre composer horvitz gathers a young big band @ Seattle’s newly refurbished The Royal Room. original compositions, complex & accessible arrangements, horvitz shows his “collective music ensemble” to great advantage; rhythm trio shares with a dozen horns+reeds.
jaclyn guillou. winter for beginners. cellar live. Rising star in the Vancouver jazz world, vocalist/composer jaclyn guillou takes on the art song–in the tradition of stacey kent and norma winstone. she writes, produces her own material (except poetry man), & has the wisdom to surround herself with the experienced bruno hubert trio (piano; guitar–david blake; bass–james meger.) plus brad turner on flugel; neelamjit dhillon, tabla; peggy lee on cello; andrew millar @ drums. rare and meticulous production from cory weeds’ cellar live.
arjun. arjun core. pheromone. And flavor of the month, B3 organ ( stunningly delivered here by john medeski) expands the razor-sharp guitar riffs in eddie arjun peters trio. lamar myers, drums; andre lyles, bass; made in Brooklyn. all originals,
