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Jazz Trail reviews “Force Field” the sophomore album by Sam Dillon

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Even boasting a very personal diction when discoursing, the young American saxophonist Sam Dillon brings an impressive amount of different influences to his ripe sophomore album, Force Field. Strongly inflected with the hard bop idioms from the 50’s and early 60’s, Dillon, who possesses an outstanding technique, offers a classic-derived repertoire bolstered by creative spins that show how swin ...Read More

Written by jamo

October 15th, 2019 at 8:19 am

The aptly titled “Right On Time” is a great jazz achievement.

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Ken Fowser – Right On Time – Posi-Tone Records PR8191 56:02 ***** 5 stars On his eighth release for Posi-Tone Records, Ken Fowser has established his credentials as a composer and band leader. Fronting an impressive sextet (Joe Magnarelli/trumpet; Steve Davis/trombone; Ed Cherry/guitar; Brian Charette/organ; and Willie Jones III/drums), Fowser opens stylishly on “Stand Clear Of The Closing D ...Read More

Written by jamo

February 27th, 2019 at 11:37 am

Michael Dease clearly continues to break his own barriers and push towards that sweeter spot with “Bonafide”

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Trombonist Michael Dease was born in Augusta, Georgia. His propensity for the arts landed him at John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet High School, where he studied saxophone, voice and trumpet. During his senior year, after sage advice from another Augusta, Georgia jazz mainstay, Wycliffe Gordon, Dease pointed his ambition towards the trombone, what would ultimately become his primary instrument. De ...Read More

Written by jamo

November 24th, 2018 at 1:30 pm

4 star review from AAJ for the new one “Fast Friends” by Doug Webb

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There is nothing as soul cleansing as bebop. Period. When you couple the music with the sunshine of Los Angeles (OK, when the smog has cleared) there is a medicinal, tonic effect to be had. Enter L.A. session saxophonist Doug Webb, a contributor to film and television, and member of big bands led by Bill Holman, Doc Severinsen, and Don Menza. Fast Friends is his eighth release for Positone. His pr ...Read More

Written by jamo

September 29th, 2018 at 3:04 pm

Tom Tallitsch’s “Wheelhouse” demonstrates the continued vitality of the hard bop form

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Wheelhouse is Tom Tallitsch’s fifth outing for Posi-Tone Records (eight overall) from one of the most consistently solid performers in that label’s stable of quality jazz performers. Though this 2018 release again sees the tenor sax master heading up a roster who have led their own notable dates for the label, but this one pairs Tallitsch with a trumpeter for the first time on a Tallitsch reco ...Read More

Written by jamo

September 4th, 2018 at 12:24 pm

“Interstellar Adventures” is focused keenly on tradition and searching beyond it

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Interstellar Adventures makes good on the promise displayed on 2017’s Promethean, the young pianist’s debut for Posi-Tone, and 2015’s Live at Smalls, his first as a leader. It also far surpasses them in originality and pluck. Where the earlier outings, particularly Promethean, showed Hill to be an imaginative player with one eye focused keenly on tradition and the other eagerly searching bey ...Read More

Written by jamo

August 12th, 2018 at 3:26 pm

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“Humanities” has a shared sense of groove and interactivity

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The latest album from the esteemed jazz pianist and musicologist David Ake, Humanities swings buoyantly through a dozen tracks, mostly original compositions. The only cover on the album is a convincing translation of the Grateful Dead’s “Ripple” into a wistful, earnest ballad in the style of Brian Blade’s Fellowship Band. They showcase a wide range of emotion and timbre, from the calm, spa ...Read More

Written by jamo

July 9th, 2018 at 1:36 pm

Modernism that never goes out of style, “No Arrival” by Nick Finzer

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Trombonist/educator/composer/arranger/bandleader Nick Finzer might be a member of Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox but he’s still that same teenager who entered the annual “Essentially Ellington” competition at the “Jazz At Lincoln Center” series. On No Arrival (Posi-Tone), his tone is positive with swing, post-bop and the kind of. His originals are daring. They poke, prod and push h ...Read More

Written by jamo

June 13th, 2018 at 1:04 pm

Turn it up and feel the power of “Interstellar Adventures”

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Pianist and composer Theo Hill, a native of Albany, New York, first studied jazz piano with the late (and, in her neck of the woods, legendary Lee Shaw (1926-2015). After graduating from the Jazz Conservatory at SUNY/Purchase, Hill moved to New York City.  Slowly yet steadily, he has built quite the resume working with drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, trumpeter Wallace Roney, vocalist Grego ...Read More

Written by jamo

June 11th, 2018 at 9:52 am

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Culture Jazz from France praises the new one from David Ake

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September 17th was a beautiful day in New York. Around 7 pm, David Ake met the team he had gathered at the Acoustic Recording Studio in Brooklyn and less than six hours later, the contents of that disc had been recorded. The day before, the quintet had met a first time in order to quickly “fly over” the scores. And here is this jewel chiseled in a very short time by goldsmiths unparall ...Read More

Written by jamo

May 8th, 2018 at 8:40 am