Weslia continues her traversal through the Great American Songbook with this tribute to composer McHugh, who never achieved the fame of Gershwin or Porter, but nonetheless created some true classics that were widely known, inc. "Don't Blame Me," "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" & "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me"
You both enjoy doing things together. Vacations in the Wine Country. Quiet dinners in newly-discovered little restaurants. Watching "Seinfeld" reruns. Why not listen to music together? Pop this CD into the player and enjoy a glass of wine or make sweet, sweet love to this collection easy pleasers featuring Houston Person, Ernie Andrews, "Papa" John & Joey DeFrancesco, Cindy Blackman, James Spaulding, George Freeman, Larry Coryell, Etta Jones, Wesla Whitfield & others.
Pianist Hicks pays tribute to jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams, once again assimilating the essence of another jazz musician & merging it with his own creativity to come up with a sound that is totally his own, yet reminiscent of the other player
The history of jazz vocals extends back perhaps even farther than jazz instrumentals and in that long history you find a lot of pretty impressive names. None are more illustrious than that of singer Chris Connor. A must have collection of classics.
Young jazz lion, trumpeter, Russell Gunn reutns with this Blue on the D.L., a great blues-based, classic jazz album containing a fierceness of attack! It's refreshing to find jazz of such aggressive tension and darkenss amid today's "smooth" and "tehcno" trends.
On this, his 4th effort for the HighNote label, Randy Johnston provide ample evidence of his never ceasing evolution as a musician. He is passionate in his quest for new avenues of expression. On IS IT YOU?, the band swings and grooves, soars and sings through seven standards and three new R. Johnston originals.
Here's a compilation featuring tracks inspired by that lonesome feeling we've all felt a few times in our lives... The blues; includes songs from Johnnie Bassett, Irene Reid, J.J. Malone, Fillmore Slim, Etta Jones, Big Al Dupree, Charles Earland, Robert "Bilbo" Walker, Willie Willis, Arthur Williams & Tommy Bankhead
Throughout the history of jazz, there has been a number of players who chose to remain in one locale to practice their art. Teddy Edwards is one of them. Though he chose to immerse himself in L.A.'s lucrative TV & radio scene, he also toured through the '60s &'70s with the likes of Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Milt Jackson & others. With his roots still firmly planted in L.A., he brings his wealth of experience to tunes titled with women's names on this CD. These are not all slow, smoochy ballads - included are chop-busters, such as Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" & the straight-ahead swing of Duke Pearson's "Jeannine".
Puerto Rican trumpeter Charlie Sepulveda has been a fixture of the Latin jazz world since the late 1980s when he played in the band of pianist and composer Eddie Palmieri. During the 1990s the brassman toured and recorded with an array of great artists including Tito Puente and the Golden Latin Jazz All Stars, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Hilton Ruiz, Dave Valentin, Danilo Perez, and Paul Simon among others. He launched his own group, The Turnaround and has been turning the tables on the traditional Latin jazz format ever since.
The Black Art Jazz Collective was founded in 2012 by Wayne Escoffery and Jeremy Pelt with the aim of honoring and preserving the art of some of the progenitors of jazz who inspired them, hired them and mentored them first hand. And while the band does pay homage to the greats of the past they also continue the evolving tradition of jazz with a body of work that remains firmly entrenched in the modernism of today. From the angular melody of Escoffery's "Involuntary Servitude," to the ingratiating groove of Pelt's "For the Kids," the ensemble extends the range and potential established by their illustrious predecessors with innovative original compositions, solos that run the gamut from thoughtful to virtuosic and a shared sense of purpose that is unique on today's jazz landscape.
2020 release. Dena DeRose's music is like a cool breeze; she's wry, wise, impeccably musical, no-nonsense, and fun. After her three decades as a pianist-singer, DeRose's voice and her fingers are on the most harmonious of terms. She's not afraid of simplicity; DeRose has no time for hollow sentiment, nor does she feel a compulsion to outsmart the makers of the Great American Songbook. Her approach to jazz resides mainly in her swinging rhythm and pianistic phrasing. Her eleventh album as a leader takes it's name from a breezy tune, full of hip changes, that was composed by Alan Broadbent. The lyrics, provided by the legendary Mark Murphy, resonated deeply with DeRose since when she's not teaching at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, she's frequently on tour. Appropriately enough she is joined by three other HighNote artists-singer Sheila Jordan, saxophonist Houston Person, and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt-all of whom have appeared with DeRose on her global travels. With her long-time rhythm section of Martin Wind and Matt Wilson DeRose delivers recording that celebrates the life of the jazz artist and the friendships they make.
2020 release. Jeremy Pelt's unquenchable curiosity has made him one of the most multi-faceted of jazz artists. Whether it be as a leader, a sideman, an accompanist or a composer, Pelt has investigated nearly every aspect and genre in jazz - from electric to eclectic, Be-Bop to Free-Bop. Here Pelt joins forces with the legendary George Cables on piano and Peter Washington laying down the bass lines. All but one tune on the setlist are slow-ish numbers but this is not your father's ballad record. Each member of the trio is able to pour some old wine into new bottles, aware of and perhaps shaped by the past but operating very much in the moment. Together with Cables' lush voicings and solid tone and Washinton's always-inspired bass lines and solos, Pelt's new recording sets a high bar for all trio recordings that follow in the remainder of 2020.
The dynamic duo of pianist David Kikoski and bassist Boris Kozlov is a triumph of musicality and virtuosity. There's some kind of magic happening between the two kindred spirits that goes beyond the notes. The musical connection between the two goes back more than 20 years. They have continued to play together regularly over the years in groups like the Mingus Big Band, in Kikoski's own trio and the all-star post-bop cooperative Opus 5. You can feel their sense of telepathy throughout Sure Thing and it is readily apparent on Kikoski's original compositions like "B Flat Tune," "E" and "Strength for Change," on the swinging version of John Coltrane's "Satellite" and the duo's faithful reading of keyboardist Keith Emerson's classically influenced "Fugue" from "The Endless Enigma". Their playful, relaxed chemistry permeates all eight tunes here and makes Sure Thing a true work of collaborative genius.
2020 release. It may be somewhat ironic, yet ultimately fitting that this, the final recording by Larry Willis, brought the veteran pianist/composer right back to the place where he first began his impressive career as recording artist that spanned over a period of six decades. The Harlem, New York born Willis first entered the hallowed halls of Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio as a twenty-two year old graduate of the Manhattan School of Music on January 29, 1965 to record with Jackie McLean for Blue Note Records. Willis's expansive resume includes entries with the likes of Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Stan Getz, Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, Clifford Jordan, Carmen McRae, David "Fathead" Newman, Woody Shaw, and many more. He appeared on hundreds of albums as a sideman and dozens more as a leader of his own impressive bands. The music played here with long-time friends Victor Lewis and Joe Ford, and his relatively new colleague Jeremy Pelt shows Larry Willis displaying the intense creativity and impeccable taste which made him once of the most respected keyboard artists in jazz.
2018 release. Recorded live in Paris at the famed Sunside/Sunset Jazz Club, Jeremy and his colleagues deliver a set of searing intensity and unparalleled musicianship. Pelt's group is that rarest of all things in jazz, a working band, and the communication that comes from extensive time spent playing together is evident. All the players are among the foremost 30-something neo-bop players in jazz today giving the group an all-star-type reputation with a well-rehearsed sound that comes only with familiarity and countless gigs. Pelt's own playing has earned accolades for his staggering virtuosity, which has elicited comparisons to trumpet icons like Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard, as well as for his studious, cerebral approach to the music. On this particular night in Paris, Pelt focused all his attention on creating the perfect phrase to fit each musical moment, sculpting long lines that let the music breathe and while building spontaneous ideas into finely-crafted miniatures.
