jazz2love

Album Name: Play Space Artist: Omer Lesham Label: Ubuntu Music Artist Website: omerleshem.net Originally from Herzliya, Israel and now based in Brooklyn, New York for the past decade, saxophonist and composer Omer Leshem has honed a compositional style that is influenced by a wide range of concepts, including classical European harmonies, Middle Eastern grooves, Mediterranean lyricism, and contemporary free jazz. His third release Play Space is composed of nine original scores featuring his quintet with Leshem playing tenor saxophone, Moshe Elmakias on piano, Nadav Remez on guitar, Elam Friedlander on bass, and Ben Silashi on drums.  All members are Israelis currently residing in New York City, channeling their shared ethnic roots and affinity for improvised jazz. Leshem pays homage to the British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicot on the recording, who devoted his career to studying child play.  Interpreted as the concept that a child’s imagination liberates the mind from establi...

Album:  Tribute: The Music of Gregg Hill Artist:  Rick Roe Label: Cold Plunge Records Websites:  gregghilljazz.com roejazz.com Pianist Rick Roe is joined by drummer Nate Winn and bassist Robert Hurst for his 2024 release, Tribute: The Music of Gregg Hill , a heartfelt homage to Lansing-based composer Gregg Hill.  The trio morphs twelve compelling tracks by Hill that explore bop jazz from swinging romps to caressing ballads and improvised lyricism. Starting off with the freestyle rivulets of Roe in “Elden’s Bop,” his frilly whorls and zestful playing is bolstered by the jaunty beats of Nate Winn’s robust drumming.  The track is followed up by the swinging rhythm of “Ducks Night Out,” seeing Robert Hurst’s arco bass propelling the bopping grooves as Roe's improvised doodles on the keys scroll animated notations along the melodic patterns. The trio's zealous approach continues through “Mr. Pea,” a frothy romp that showcases Roe’s lively piano work intertwined with ...

  An Italian naval officer Ferdinand Magellan sailed around the globe in the early 16th century, as a traveler of the seven seas.  Florentine astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered the celestial bodies canvassing the Earth's solar system, the Milky Way, in the early 17th century, known to be a traveler of the stars.  Swiss apothecary Albrecht Höpfner invented various shades of blue in the late 18th century, noted as a traveler of colors.  Polish-French chemist Marie Curie discovered radium in the early 20th century, being a traveler of energy waves.   In the vane of such notable explorers, Barcelona-born pianist Marina Albero has made discoveries of her own in the early 21st century.  Creating new melodic formations using string and keyboard instruments.  The title of her 2024 release A Nomad of Sound reflects her explorative nature.  For the recording, she traveled from her home in Seattle, Washington, which she resettled to in 2014, and fou...

Album:  Hope Artist:  Defne Şahin Label:  Berthold Records Website:  www.defnesahin.com www.instagram.com/defne.sahin www.facebook.com/defnesahingroup www.youtube.com/defnesahin Bridging the melodic influences of world pop, jazz, and ambient, vocalist Defne Şahin merges the poetry of British author Emily Dickinson with original music and lyrics on Şahin's 2023 release Hope.  Her lyrics externalize thoughts about life and death, moving between introspection and melancholy, wrestling between embracing life and longing for loss and letting these feelings go.  Culminating into an enchanting cauldron of hypnotic soundscapes as each track moves into the next. The Berlin-born vocalist of Turkish origin draws from her experiences living between New York, Berlin, and Istanbul.  Inspired by the poems of Dickinson, the music intimates the highs and lows of life, offering insight into human existence and all its complexities. Şahin's glistening timbres produce an...

Album:  Jazz Passion & Satin Latin Artist:  Jimbo Ross Label:  Bodacious Records Website:  Bodaciousrecords.com/about-jimbo-ross Facebook.com/jimboross Jazz Passion & Satin Latin , the latest edition to violist Jimbo Ross's catalog takes audiences back to his jazz roots with selections from the Great American Songbook, jazz standards, and a few original compositions.  Partaking on this adventure with Ross are guitarist Joe Gaeta, pianist Stuart Elster, bassist Peter Marshall, and drummer Ron Wagner. The band recorded the 13 tracks at the Sonic Boom Room studio using minimal overdubbing and no track-stacking over a four-day period.  The press release supplies, "Ross plays a modified copy of a classic viola, reproduced on a 3-D printer, and dually upgraded with a 5th string to extend the upper range of the instrument, and an electronic pickup to allow it to be heard alongside the other instruments." Ross's viola is well pronounced on each track while ...

Album:  Justifiably J.J. Artist:  John Fedchock Label:  Summit Records Website:  Johnfedchock.com Facebook.com/JohnFedchockMusic IG: @Johnfedchockofficial Youtube.com/@JohnFedchockMusic Summitrecords.com For trombonist John Fedchock's eleventh album as a leader, he showcases a tribute to the trombone master J.J. Johnson’s Justifiably J.J. , marking its centennial. The release is a collection of eight swinging compositions either written by or associated with Johnson. Rather than “re-imagining” Johnson’s music, Fedchock performs Johnson’s original arrangements in honor of the pioneer. Johnson is noted for effectively fashioning the trombone's booming flair to be applied to the flexible tempo changes of the bebop style at a time when the trombone was popular in Dixieland and swing music.  Johnson is considered the first trombonist to adapt the trombone to the complexities of bebop, honing a legacy that has influenced jazz trombonists since. In 2024, in celebratio...