Skip to content

Standard Reader

Jazz Weekly

@jazzweekly.com

Creative Music and other forms of Avant Garde

0Readers

45Posts

todayLast active

****RINGER OF THE WEEK****THIS IS JAZZ VOCALS…Ella Fitzgerald: Live at Falkoner Theatre, Copenhagen 6th February 1966

Once in awhile, you remember why you first liked jazz. This is one of those records. Back in the late 1960s, Ella Fitzgerald toured around with Duke Ellington’s orchestra, the result being a one lp in 1967, and later a 7cd collection from concerts at the Cote D’Zur. If it were possible, I would have...

ReviewsRinger of the Week

Dan Siegel: Resolution

Pianist and composer Dan Siegel is a throwback to the Old School of jazzers, playing melodic and accessible uptown sounds that hit the ears just right. He’s teamed with the veteran Brian Bromberg/b and Jay Belierose/dr-per in trio format, and supplemented at times by some soothing horns and guitarists Matt Hormbeck-Allen Hinds-Dean Parks. The horns...

Satko Fujii Orchestra Kobe: After The Storm

Legendary Composer and pianist Satoko Fujii brings forth her ideas in orchestral form on this latest album. The four part suite “After The Storm” is most cogent and bopping on the concluding “$” while the horns squeak and squawk on a gurgling “3”. The hues are dark with Keishiro Saito’s bass on the wild ride...

TWO SIDES OF MIGUEL ZENON: , Miguel Zenon: Miguel Zenon & Luis Perdomo: El Arte Del Bolero, Expressions,-Concerto for Alto Sax and Orchestra

After showing how his working band can perform through his last album, a live one, alto saxist Miguel Zenon shows two more sides of his creative skills on a pair of new releases. Miguel Zenon duos up with longtime piano partner Luis Perdomo on a rich and intimated collection of romantic boleros. The two tap...

BLUES ROCKING…Katie Knipp: Live at Theater 5150, Brad “Guitar” Wilson: Boundless PUCC

There's good rockin' tonight... Playing guitar, harmonica and piano, singer Katie Knapp growls out a set at Theater 5150 with Pancho Tomasell/b, Steve Utstein/key, Neil Campisano/dr and Quinn Hedges/g on this mix of originals and covers. She’s dramatic and urgent of a read of Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper” and Spartan stark on the traditional “John...

Gretchen Parlato: The Wise Ones

I’m consistently amazed that vocalist Gretchen Parlato never disappoints; all of her albums are unique, clever and strong. This latest with Gerald Clayton/p, Mark Guiliana/dr, Alan Hampton/b and Robert Glasper/key with a handful of guests makes for a new and more soul/CTI-flavored sound, and it works well. Teamed with Hampton, the Parlato hints at folksy...

Mark Guiliana: Beat Music 2.0

Drummer Mark Guiliana teams with Nicholas Semrad/key, Stu Brooks-Tim Lefebvre/b, Gretchen Parlato/voc to create an album that essentially sounds like sounds from your local pinball or video game. You get Nintendo funk on “B.ANG”, pong pulses on “P.LAY”, a bass line and PAC MAN effects on “M.OVE” and “J.OHN”. How do I win an extra...

HRISTJIAN RISTESKI: THE DANCE OF MACEDONIAN WATERS

Macedonia, once the home of home of both Byzantine and Ottoman cultures, still brings fresh ideas to Western minds. Clarinetist/saxist Hristjian Risttski, born in Ohrid (also known as "The Jerusalem of Europe") brings a fresh sound to jazz, melding in ancient orthodox tones and harmonies with modern sensibilities, bringing in a fresh Aegian breeze of...

InterviewsReviews

Fumi Tomita: Yokai-Songs of the Japanese Supernatural

Bassist and composer Fumi Tomita richly mixes jazz ideologies with his own Japanese tradition of harmonies and folklore on this album that explores dreams and visions both spiritual and musical. He’s joined by Carl Clements/fl-sax, Jason Ennis/g and Gary Fieldman/dr, as they say, every musical picture tells a story. Tomita’s rich bass has that same...

Lisa Hilton: Naturally

She mixes and matches modes with familiar friends Rudy Royston/dr, Luques Curtis/b JD Allen/ss-ts and Igmar Thomas/tp, with the latter forming rich tones around the locking lines of Hilton and Curtis on a flowing dream of “Carefree Chronicles”, while “Transcendental Tango” has Hilton and Curtis working up a sweat on a dance floor with a...

Gil Melle’: Music From Hot Target Jealousy-Georgia

Mostly known as a warm sounding saxist, Gil Melle’ turns in a couple of musical scores, most famously the Angie Dickenson film Georgia as well as the 1984 thriller Hot Target. This isn’t a “jazz” album soundtrack, per se, but there is a rich mix of electronic ideas, dark themes and fantasmic settings. Titles like...

Reza Khan: Shadow Dancers

Reza Khan plays guitars, keyboards and santoor, as he leads a tea mof Matt King/p-key, Mauriicao Zotarelli/dr, Brendan Rothwell/b, Philippe Saisse/key and a collection of guests including bassists Mark Egan, Nathan East and Jimmy Haslip on this collection of soundscapes. Khan’s nylons strings shine with Jeff Kashiwa’s tenorsax on “Aurora” , while some Latin loving...