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Brian Landrus: Just When You Think You Know
by Jack Bowers
Brian Landrus, best known for his eloquent performances on baritone sax, shows his versatility--as player, composer and arranger--on Just When You Think You Know, his tenth album as leader, adding tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute and bass flute to enlarge an impressive arsenal of musical weaponry. In fact, Landrus unlimbers the baritone on only three of the album's fourteen eclectic numbers--all of which he wrote and arranged. He plays tenor sax on five selections, one or another of ...
Continue ReadingDarryl Yokley: Un Mundo en Soledad
by Paul Rauch
Composer/saxophonist Darryl Yokley's Sound Reformation recordings have always revealed a keen compositional sense for sound, mood-setting melodies that tell a story. One could easily describe his writing and playing style as lyrical, creating a narrative of sound without actual vocal or spoken word participation. Imagine then, a suite of tunes written lyrically in terms of melody, adding spoken word art inspired from one of the classic novels in literary history. Imagine even further, those words leaping from the pages of ...
Continue ReadingAfro-Cuban Jazz Show
by David Brown
This week, we have been checking out some sounds from Cuba, Afro-Cuban Jazz and other Latin Jazz works from the 1950s to today.Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 01:30 Julio Gutierrez “Theme On Cha Cha Cha" from The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions (Panart Records) 03:15 Nino Rivera “Guanguanco--Comparsa" from The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions (Panart Records) 07:47 Buena Vista Social Club “Chan Chan" from Buena Vista Social Club (World Circuit) 15:16 Rubén ...
Continue ReadingDavid Larsen: Cohesion
by Edward Blanco
Baritone saxophonist David Larsen has produced one of the finest albums of pure hard bop music on the jazz landscape of today. Cohesion contains a treasure trove of fresh new original material from Larsen and tenor saxophonist Darryl Yokley. Larsen leads the driving, dark and impassioned sounds of hard bop. His pronounced baritone voice is best positioned to convey the pulsating, swinging color found throughout the album. Performing on the baritone is a challenge considering it is the hardest member ...
Continue ReadingLakecia Benjamin: Phoenix Reimagined (Live)
by Mike Jurkovic
The certifiable beauty of Phoenix Reimagined (Live) is that it all happens in very very real time as Lakecia Benjamin comes fiercely into her immediate own and then, in a tear of a performance that blisters the paint on the wall, surpasses herself. It is a momentous achievement. One that we rarely get to hear up close, personal and live. Benjamin cuts through the malaise of an empire falling, burning down the ministry of b.s. as she wields ...
Continue ReadingZaccai Curtis: Cubop Lives!
by Pierre Giroux
Pianist Zaccai Curtis's recent album Cubop Lives! is a vibrant acknowledgement of the rich legacy of bebop and Afro-Cuban jazz offering a compelling blend that respects tradition while infusing it with a contemporary flair. Backed by a scintillating ensemble of top-flight exponents of the style, including bassist Luques Curtis, drummer Willie Martinez III, conguero Camilo Molina and on bongos Reinaldo De Jesus, the group dives into an extended track list of seventeen compositions comprising Curtis originals, bebop classics, American Songbook ...
Continue ReadingDavid Larsen: Cohesion
by Jack Bowers
For Cohesion, baritone saxophonist David Larsen's tenth album as leader of his own ensemble, he chose as his teammates a quartet of East Coast musicians who so impressed him during a tour of the Northwest that he invited them back to his Seattle, Washington home base to take part in a workshop, play some gigs and ultimately record Cohesion with him. As it turns out, it was a splendid decision, as Larsen and the others, even though ...
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