jazz2love

Album:  Legacy Artist:  Hollywood Paul Litteral Label:  Outrageous8 Records Website:  www.angelamaeoneill.com From playful swing and upbeat jazz to reflective torchlight and solemn blues, bandleader and trumpet player "Hollywood" Paul Litteral, who obtained his nickname for his work in Los Angeles, portrays a diverse set of moods on his latest offering Legacy , released by Outrageous8 Records.  His assortment of jazz and pop classics are personalized, attributing his melodic sensibilities to these standards and revitalizing their special spark with audiences. The recording is packed with instrumentals sprinkled by vocal-led numbers like "Makin’ Whoopie," composed by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson.  The track features Anna Orbison on vocals, whose sensual phrasing and suave resonance puts an uplifting glaze over the strutting beats of Bill Bodine's bass and Michael Rosen's drums. Transcribed by Litteral's alto saxophonist Michael Mull, a bevy of horns sash

Album:  Where Flamingos Fly Artists:  Naama Gheber Label:  La-Reserve Music Label Websites:  https://www.naamasings.com   Female jazz singers of yesteryear such as Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee can rest comfortably seeing vocalist Naama Gheber pick up the reins where these ladies left off.  Gheber's forthcoming release Where Flamingos Fly from La-Reserve Music Label is loaded with charismatic swing and torchlight warmth as she hones an intimate and friendly relationship with her audience.  Her recreations of nostalgic melodies and jazz standards extends their life span and allure Gheber's vocal strut has a poised saunter gently supported by Bruce Barth's piano stride cruising sensually along Cindy Walker and Eddy Arnold's sentimental tune "You Don't Know Me," emoting an evocative lilt shrouded in a warm, bluesy ambience.  Gheber eloquently muses, "You think you know me well, but you don't know me, no you don't know the one, who dreams of you at

Album:  The Art of Duo Artists:  John Daversa and Tal Cohen Websites:  johndaversa.com                   instagram.com/johndaversa                   facebook.com/johndaversamusic From the first track on The Art of Duo by trumpet player John Daversa and pianist Tal Cohen, the listener recognizes that the recording is something special.  That the interaction between Daversa and Cohen is something special.  Their conversations, which sees the pair alternately as one initiates and the other responds, make the listener aware of their symbiotic rapport. Their recording shows audiences what soulful and winsome interpolating is made when humans collaborate together.  That music made from the free flow of creativity among humans is the most magnetic music possible. Though Daversa and Cohen do not consider their recording jazz music because the music transcends musical styles, it is jazz because jazz allows its musicians to be spontaneous, to go where the music takes them, to flex their creativ

Album:  In the Moment Artist:  Ella & The Bossa Beat Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.ellaandthebossabeat.com In the Moment  from Ella & The Bossa Beat is comprised of nine original songs composed by Ella Borges and her band, which features her father, Magrus Borges, on drums and percussion.  Ella sings in both English and Portuguese in a backdrop tinted in shades of R&B, soul, smooth jazz, bossa nova, and sonic pop.  The starry-eyed imaginary radiating from the brushed percussive strokes and elevating strings along "Dreamer" have a sonic pop hue reminiscent of Billie Ellish's penchant for stirring contemplation and Lewis Capaldi's fondness for intimating emotion through nuanced vocals. She muses, "When did I come to love this little dream / I think it started when I learned how to talk / And now it's bigger than me / It was not long ago / That I heard... if life's not about chasing my dreams / Then what will I hold on to when there's n

Album:  Dreamland Artist:  Libby York Label:  OA2 Records Website:  www.libbyyork.com Shining the spotlight on lesser known jazz standards, vocalist Libby York nurtures a visceral sensitivity in her delivery of these tunes on her latest release Dreamland from OA2 Records.  She has the effect of awakening the audiences' attachment to soothing lullabies.  Channeling the nightingale side of her vocalese, York comes forward as a stunning crooner. York's vocals have the impact of making the listener feel like a child, being cradled, soothed, caressed, and swaddled in the arms of a protective parent.  Joined by Randy Napoleon on piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass, and Keith Hall on drums, Libby York displays an attractive consistency in her repertoire, which some might perceive as old-fashioned stylizing, but her old-fashioned stylizing is unassailably engaging and contemporary in her approach and manner. The gentleness in her vocal strokes suture graceful swells along "When Octobe

Album:  Blues To Be There, A Salute To Duke Ellington Artist:  Planet D Nonet Label:  Eastlawn Records Website:  rjspangler.com/pd9.php Paying homage to the works of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, the Planet D Nonet focuses on the works of these artists in their later years of the 1950's on the Nonet's recording Blues To Be There, A Salute To Duke Ellington .  Led by percussionist RJ Spangler and trumpet player James O'Donnell, the Nonet hones their fluency in swing, hard bop, and blues, with each musician "finding themselves" in Ellington's scores, as Spangler paraphrases in a press release. The Nonet's alterations on the original arrangements show a perceptive slant in their interpretations, spotlighting the elegant nuances of each track.  The squiggly furls of James O'Donnell's trumpet are verbose and voluminous, ruminating smoothly along "Blues To Be There" while tindered by the jaunty toots of clarinet player Christopher Tabaczy