Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Raul Da’Gama Rose reviews Ehud Asherie “Upper West Side”…
www.allaboutjazz.com
Upper West Side is as fine a duet album as has been made by a pianist with another instrumentalist. This declaration may very possibly include the albums made by Hank Jones with Tommy Flanagan and Oscar Peterson with Dizzy Gillespie. It is a credit to pianist Ehud Asherie that he made this album at such a young age in comparison to the masters who have been mentioned ...Read More
Lucid Culture reviews Doug Webb “Swing Shift”…
lucidculture.wordpress.com
Doug Webb Slays With His Own Stuff
If you see a lot of jazz, you’re probably used to watching familiar faces run through familiar material and wondering to yourself, what if they were left to their own devices? What if they did their own stuff – would they take it to the next level? Doug Webb’s latest album Swing Shift is one answer to that question.
Back in Apr ...Read More
Here’s the first review for Jared Gold’s new CD “Golden Child”…
www.criticaljazz.com
As cliche driven as this sounds…Jared Gold is indeed the “Golden Child.”
Organ trios seem to be finding their stride once again with some bordering on the type of organ you heard at the local skating rink while growing up and others being high standard hard hitting dates where the band reacquaints you with the land of rhythm and groove and session rests com ...Read More
Critical Jazz reviews Brent Canter “Urgency of Now”…
www.criticaljazz.com
Creating your own distinctive voice.
Brent Canter has just raised the bar if not slightly altered the rules for the organ based 4tet in modern jazz. Canter is a student of the great Kenny Burrell and perhaps the biggest surprise for most would be there is minimal musical resemblance throughout Urgency Of Now. If a musical frame of reference is a must and sometimes they are ...Read More
Kenny Shanker “Steppin’ Up” gets a nice write-up from Critical Jazz…
www.criticaljazz.com
I make it a point to almost never read other writers unless I am doing research on an artist that I may not be as familiar with as others. There are some artists that are a pure joy to discover without the slightest pre-conceived notions that come from outside influences and Kenny Shanker is one such artist. Originally recorded in 2009 but taking two and one half years for ...Read More
Critical Jazz coverage for Orrin Evans “Freedom”…
http://www.criticaljazz.com/2012/03/orrin-evans-freedom-posi-tone-2011.html
Jazz without passion is kind of like lite beer. Why bother?
A former editor once advised the necessity to separate the individual from their art in matters of critical review. There are cases however when an artist makes his or her outspoken notoriety as much of their career making the process increasingly difficul ...Read More
CriticalJazz reviews Doug Webb “Swing Shift”…
www.criticaljazz.com
Doug Webb is one of those hard charging post bop tenor players that allows me to accept the fact the best place for my tenor may well be hanging on the wall of the local TGI Fridays. Moving seamlessly from alto to tenor, Webb is a master technician with artistic chops galore but Swing Shift is a tad different. Doug Webb’s Swing Shift is not the traditional blowing se ...Read More
The JazzBreakfast on Kenny Shanker and Patrick Corneilus….
thejazzbreakfast.com
Kenny Shanker
Steppin’ Up
(PosiTone PR8087)
Debut from alto saxophonist Shanker and a band of Art Hirahara or Mike Eckroth on piano, Lage Lund on guitar, Yoshi Waki on bass and Brian Fischler on drums.
Shanker writes all the tunes with the exception of the closer, Lenny Bernstein’s Somewhere, and he has a nice full and fruity sound on alto. Born in California, and a studen ...Read More
SomethingElse reviews Steve Horowitz “New Monsters”….
somethingelsereviews.com
Steve Horowitz can be considered a jazz musician, but you’re not likely to have heard some of his music through the same channels as other jazz musicians. One of his main gigs is writing scores for movies, TV and even interactive media, and his accomplishments include scoring the award winning film Super Size Me. He’s has also composed for MTV, won a Grammy for the b ...Read More
AAJ take five with Noah Haidu…
www.allaboutjazz.com
Meet Noah Haidu:
Pianist and composer Noah Haidu is evidence that 21st century jazz can be adventurous, fresh and swing hard; that an exciting, modern pianist can play memorable melodies and soulful grooves. His powerful new Posi- Tone Records CDSlipstream is garnering impressive reviews and radio play: write-ups in All About Jazz, JazzTimes, the Financial Times, Downbeat, a ...Read More