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Showing posts from April, 2021

Album Review: Ever Since the World Ended from Lauren White

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Album:  Ever Since the World Ended Artist:  Lauren White Label:  Café Pacific Records Website:  www.laurenwhitejazz.com A torchbearer of cabaret jazz, vocalist Lauren White's contribution to the genre is embraceable.  Her fifth CD, Ever Since the World Ended features a collection of cover tunes and originals, finely groomed to a melodic sheen.  From the smooth jazz cruising of the title track to the swing jazz-influenced shimmies of "Take Love Easy," White moves through a series of vignettes, each presenting listeners with a sonically picturesque setting.   Like a favorite pillow, White's performance is comforting, offering solace and warmth.  The lingering tone in her voicing through "Alone Together" is supported by the bubbling doodles of Quinn Johnson's keys.  Switching to a light-hearted scamper along "Just the Two of Us," White's optimism is infectious, wrapping the listener in her perky timbres.  The soft flutter of Grant Geissman

Album Review: Tres Libre from Dan Moretti

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Album: Tres Libre Artist: Dan Moretti Label: Roots Grooves Records Website:  danmoretti.com Keyboardist, saxophonist, composer, and leader Dan Moretti unveils his twentieth recording Tres Libre with all original compositions written by Moretti.  His fusion of jazz, funk, blues, and soul make for a multi-faceted excursion for the aural senses. From the percolating grooves of "Mumbo Jumbo" to the smooth rippling wails of Moretti's tenor sax on "The Inner Side" and into the jittery palpitations of Marcus Santos's pandeiro playing along “Pandeiro-Funk,” Moretti offers a diverse range of musical expressions with Bruce Bartlett's guitar chords adding tingling accents along the melodic bed.  The soulful sonorous of Moretti's saxophone engulfs audiences in familiar terrain, intimating a vulnerability that resonates with listeners. Traversing into a Latin-infused soundscape, the tribal beats of "Escrito Jazz Libre” intergrate the driving congas of Cuban