Cincinnati Enquirer (Free subscription) | 10/06/2008
A Wynton Marsalis concert must be a selective look back at traditional jazz, because 90 minutes is way to short for him to share all of the jazz history he has in his brain. Ninety hours might not even be long enough, either.
Detroit Free Press (Free subscription) | 08/30/2008
There were times when Dianne Reeves sounded like the greatest jazz singer on the planet during her opening-night set Friday at the Detroit International Jazz Festival. But there were also times when her talent seemed undercut by pop-minded material and an overly sentimental streak.
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 06/13/2008
James Carter, Present Tense (Emarcy). When he burst onto the jazz scene from Detroit in the early '90s, Carter's virtuosity on an arsenal of woodwinds sometimes overrode content in his music. After a three-year recording hiatus, he reappears with no...
Philadelphia Inquirer (Free subscription) | 03/17/2008
There are two sides to Dianne Reeves: the slickly produced pop-fusion that critics keep at arm's length, and the uncluttered combo jazz of her most recent recordings, A Little Moonlight (2003) and the soundtrack to Good Night, and Good Luck (2005).
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 02/05/2008
Roberta Gambarini and Hank Jones, Lush Life (55 Records). With a new collaboration of the...
LP Cover Lover (Free subscription) | 12/24/2007
One of my favorite covers and records too. Paul Weller took the photo. Paul Bacon designed the cover. “Monk’s Music” The Thelonious Monk Septet with Coleman Hawkins, Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Gigi Gryce, Ray Copeland, Wilbur Ware. Riverside Records. 1957. Monk’s fifth for the label and the first to focus on [...]
LP Cover Lover (Free subscription) | 12/01/2007
Portrait of Art Farmer on Contemporary. Although it was not until 1958 (the year this album was recorded) that Art Farmer was voted “New Star” of the year in the Down Beat poll, his reputation had already been established among musicians on the basis of his work with Lionel Hampton, Gigi Gryce, and Gerry Mulligan. [...]
LP Cover Lover (Free subscription) | 11/24/2007
Donald Byrd and Gigi Gryce “Xtacy” on Trip records (a low budget reissue label). Sorry bout the ringwear.
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 09/14/2007
A few of the things that are keeping my ears and eyes busy: Bud Shank...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 09/04/2007
This Keepnews Collection remaster/reissue of a 1958 recording is welcome if only as a reminder of Bill Evans' trio playing before the period of the celebrated Village Vanguard Sessions (Riverside, 1961) with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. With a rhythm section of drummer Philly Joe Jones and bassist Sam Jones, the pianist's inventions are cast into bolder relief than ever. The silent...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 10/09/2008
The Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington played Wednesday night in a live broadcast on National Public Radio and Newark, New Jersey's, WBGO-FM. The program of well more than an hour consisted of one of the trio's sets at New York's Village Vanguard. Coincident...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 10/09/2008
Art Farmer-Gigi Gryce Quintet: Complete 1954-1955 Prestige Recordings (Fresh Sound). In 1953, Farmer arrived in New York from California with Lionel Hampton's band, Gryce from his Fulbright studies in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Arthur Honneger. The next year they began a two-year collaboration in a quintet that amalgamated their instrumental skills with approaches to form and harmony that eased...
