jazz2love

Album:  Ain’t It Grand Artist:  Glenn Crytzer Orchestra Label:  Blue Rhythm Records Website:  www.glenncrytzer.com Ain’t It Grand , the latest project from the Glenn Crytzer Orchestra, makes audiences feel like they are attending a Jazz Age Lawn Party circa 1930’s.  The sizzle of the horns, the rattle of the drums, the pearlescent texture of the piano keys, and the caressing tone of the vocals are hallmarks of America’s Jazz Age, spanning from the Roaring ‘20s to the post-Prohibition period of the 1930s.  The music is reminiscent of the days of Cab Calloway, Paul Whiteman, and Artie Shaw, when 53rd Street in Manhattan, renamed swing street, was the hub of cabarets and dancehalls featuring boogie woogie, hot jazz, lively blues, ragtime,  Dixieland, and swing. A collection of old-time favorites, forgotten treasures, and originals, the 2-disc compilation is a chock full of merriment from start to finish.  “Who’s Yehoodi” is a prime example of a ...

Album:  Distant Song Artist:  Fred Farell Label:  Whaling City Sound Website:  www.fredfarell.com Jazz crooner Fred Farell embarks on a voyage through torchlight palisades in his latest recording Distant Song .  Appearing with Farell on the tracks are Dave Liebman on saxophone and Richie Beirach on piano, coruscating his vocals in delicate embers and being sensitive to framing his storytelling summaries. Farell's vocals caramelize with Beirach's expressive inflections made by the keys, flowing with a palliative tone along "Lonnie's Song" and buckling the listener into the smooth torchlight-scape.  The narrative voicing in Farell's delivery on "Tomorrow's Expectations" echoes of the jazz crooners before him like Andy Williams, who reached out to his audience by talking to them directly.  Farell sings directly to the listener, making an impactful impression.  The impact is a team effort as Beirach has a proclivity for phrasing poetically nuance...

Album:  Jazz It Up Artists:  Bob Arthurs and Steve Lamattina Label:  Blue Griffin Recording, Inc. Website:  www.bobarthursmusic.com Jazz It Up , the latest CD from the collaboration of trumpet player Bob Arthurs and guitarist Steve LaMattina is a vessel for Ukranian folk songs, interpreted using European blues and American jazz conjugations.  The endeavor proves to be a mellow outing sewing together moments of quiet contemplation and episodic anecdotes. The seeds of appreciation for traditional Ukranian melodies are planted, displaying their vitality and intrinsic ability to speak to global societies.  Fundamental sounding, the tunes resonate with people of diverse cultures.  For instance, "Walking Around the Garden" permeates a bluesy French persuasive, reminiscent of the culture's nightclub atmosphere with smooth vocals and a sparsely layered melody containing a slow-simmering guitar strum and the occasional flare of the trumpet.  The bluesy...

Album:  On the Sunny Side Artist:  Interplay Jazz Orchestra Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.interplayjazzorchestra.com Big Band jazz is alive and percolating amply on Interplay Jazz Orchestra's latest release On the Sunny Side .  Co-directed by trumpet player Gary Henderson and trombonist Joey Devassy, the Long Island, New York-based Interplay Jazz Orchestra perform original compositions with arrangements written by several members of the band, in addition to performing a handful of jazz standards.  Recorded at the Bunker Studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the assortment roars with rambling horns that swing fervidly while also being able to caress the listener's ears with majestic serenades on Jay Orig's piano keys and sentimental soliloquies played by the trombones and saxophones.  There is something for every side of the spectrum that engages the human spirit. Ballroom swing in the style of bandleaders like Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller can b...

Album:  Jazz En Stock Artist:  The Jazz Street Boyz Label:  JDC Musique Website:  www.jazzstreetboyz.com Listen:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/jazz-en-stock/1445207062?app=music&ls=1&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 A band of self-proclaimed buskers, Jazz Street Boyz revitalize the era of Tin Pan Alley collectives when groups of street performers gathered to pitch their homespun tunes to music publishers that occupied 28th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan back at the turn of the century.  Homespun music is what the duo of vocalist/tenor guitarist/banjo player Dominic Desjardins and keyboardist/trumpet player Jérôme Dupuis-Cloutier create on their sophomore release Jazz En Stock from JDC Musique.   Based in Montreal, the duo are joined by bassist Sylvain Délisle and drummer Jonathan Gagné.  Collectively, the quartet demonstrate an open mind about making music, blending elements of Dizzyland jazz, blues, ragtime, folk, bluegrass...

Album:  Something's Gotta Give Artist:  Anthony Caceres Label:  A Jig in G Production Website:  www.anthonycaceres.com The swinging style of singer, songwriter, and bass player Anthony Caceres is like no one before.  Not Sinatra, not Harry Connick Jr., not Michael Feinstein, not Michael Buble though many of the songs on Caceres's CD Something's Gotta Give mirror his predecessors setlist.  With jazz standards like Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia" and Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love," and long forgotten pop favorites like "Autumn Serenade" and "Once in Awhile," Caceres reprises the music of a begone day when swing reigned as the supreme choice of music.  Extraordinarily, these begone tunes bode nicely with Caceres' register and modern treatment of the melodies. Hearing the bass parts of these songs played by Caceres and the vocals sung by him is a pleasing ride as he shares a new vision for them.  H...

Album:  Stories From Here And There Artist:  Tuomo Uusitalo Label:  Fresh Sound New Talent Website:  www.tuomouusitalo.com Chamber music and improvisation are sauteed in jazz dressing on Tuomo Uusitalo's latest release Stories From Here and There .  The pianist-songwriter leads the quartet along multiple musical segments, exploring the sonic range and flexibility of the individual instruments and the various entanglements they form.  Track after track, the compositions illuminate a ballroom glow.  Some numbers display a soft glisten like "Solitude" and others delve deeper into abstract and avant garde terrain illustrated by the rustle and scramble of Uusitalo's keys making random scrolls across "Between Things" like a prospector on the trail of a goldmine. Exhibiting an ingenuity for composing off-the-cuff sequences, Uusitalo has a propensity for making his random meanders sound melodic while keeping in harmony with the rest of the arrangement play...

Album:  Rise Up Artist:  Scott Ramminger Label:  Arbor Lane Music Website:  www.scottramminger.com Chicago blues with a bit of Tennessee-mountain honky tonk is the concoction that vocalist-saxophonist-songwriter Scott Ramminger puts together on his fifth solo recording Rise Up .  The compilation is a meeting of guitarist Albert Collins' gritty blues with tunesmith Bonnie Raitt's roots rock.  The tracks show similarities in their foundation while also offering plenty of moments to exercise one's inner spirit to gripe about life and to express appreciation for what's so lovely about life. The title track brandishes a grinding Hammond B3 organ played by Wes Lanich sitting on top of the grooving beats of bassist Paul Langosch and drummer Emre Kartari.  Ramminger's soaring sax sketches sonic squawks above the gravelly sounds of Lanich's organ and the flared yowls of Shane Theriot's guitar.  Expanding on the dialogue, "Daisy" is a sweet ditty about ...

Album:  Two Hands To Tango Artist:  Hakon Skogstad Label:  Avantango Records Website:  www.hmskogstad.net The dramatic lines and multi-textured progressions performed by pianist Hakon Skogstad on his latest recording Two Hands To Tango vacillate between the frolicking stride of “Milonga Impromptu” and the intense tone of “Tango Del Angel.”  A promising Beethoven, Chopin, Bartók, Hakon Skogstad puts his entire being into his improvisations, playing the piano with a level of passion and lyricism that bards like Shakespeare and Moliere put into their storytelling. The jostling action in the notes creates an oscillating motion through “Sur,” producing an agile mixture with lots of swerving and swiveling.  Conversely, the even keel in the carriage of “Norte” harvests a stream of warm sensations, performing a variation of the tango rhythm.  One hand plays notes that form perforating dings while the other hand moves in smooth, cruising lines across “Tris...

Album:  The Art of Life Artist:  Norman Johnson Label:  Self-Released Website:  http://normanjohnsonguitar.com Guitar fusion, R&B/soul, and dance funk come together on guitarist Norman Johnson's third solo effort The Art of Life .   Johnson demonstrates his intuitive nature to play to the grooving beat, cultivating a symbiotic rapport that engulfs the listener in harmonious rhapsodies.  Johnson's performance crosses over the music spectrum from smooth jazz to dance pop, adding to each genre. The mid-tempo grooves of "Sing On" are modulated with a touch of reggae, complementing the bopping chord movements of Johnson's guitar.  The tune is further layered in intervals of lobbing splashes from the tooting horns.  The smooth sensations emitting from Johnson's guitar infuse light rivulets along the title track, producing a succor effect on the listener.  Conversely, "Old School" is seared by a dance funk groove laced in the light trem...

Album:  You and the Night and the Music Artist:  Lucia Jackson Label:  Roni Music Website:  www.luciajackson.com The culmination of bluesy bossa nova vocals and smooth jazz instrumentation makes for an easy listening repertoire on You and the Night and the Music from chanteuse Lucia Jackson.  Her debut offering, produced by her father Ron Jackson, sheds new light on classic selections from the Great American Songbook and the pages of Billboards top 20 pop hits.   Honorably, her interpretation of Paul McCartney and John Lennon's timeless melody "And I Love Him" is exquisite, conditioning the ballad with her soothing vocals sprinkled in sparse guitar chords performed by her father.  Her version of the classic melody breathes new life into a favorite pop novelty.   Jackson kicks up her heels along the bopping rhythm of the title track written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz.  Her refined and relaxing vocal style treats the n...

Album:  Howlin' at the Moon Artist:  Carmela Rappazzo Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://www.carmelarappazzo.com Showing a penchant for songs meant for intimate settings, vocalist Carmela Rappazzo creates an atmosphere where she is singing privately to the listener on her new recording Howlin' at the Moon .  Track after track, the songs project the impression that she is holding a private conversation with each individual listening.  The warmth emanating from her vocals is calming, and the storytelling-bent in her delivery gives the tracks a poetic stride. The tempos range from slow simmers like "Haunted" to jazzy rompers like the title track, embellished in bop-enriched trimmings.  The swinging rhythm of "Rush of Heat" brings audiences back to the days when marquee magnets like Frank Sinatra and Lena Horne headlined at music halls.  The recording changes to a contemporary pop shading through "State of Grace" as Rappazzo's fluid vocals...

Album:  Soliloquy Artist:  Alan Pasqua Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://alanpasqua.bandcamp.com/releases Elegant and serene, the sonic imaginings created by pianist Alan Pasqua on his recording Soliloquy are just that.  The interludes are respite, enticing the listener to enter into moments of reflections.  The compositions aren't too intense or demanding but are rather like a sweet balm on the listener's ears. The waltzing stride of the keys ruminate with a soft glint along "Lotus Blossom," glittering warmly and gliding with a regal gait.   Pasqua shows a penchant for crafting introspective moods, inviting audiences to indulge in pensive jaunts.  Listeners thoughts roam freely while engulfed in the stories emanating from Pasqua's keys.  The gentle strokes of the keys defining "In a Sentimental Mood" stroll with a casual penmanship, illuminating a torchlight glisten.  Palpably, the choreographed keys ambling across...

Album:  We've Only Just Begun Artist:  Ashley Pezzotti Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.ashleypezzotti.com From the start, the listener is enthralled by the way cabaret singer Ashley Pezzotti turns a phrase, injects playful inflections in the lyrics, and evokes emotion in her vocal delivery.  She personalizes every track, developing an intimacy between her and her audience.  Her first straight-ahead jazz endeavor We've Only Just Begun contains an assortment of original compositions inspired by the Great American Songbook.  The stories told in the lyrics are drawn from her own personal experiences and from people that have touched her.  Incorporating elements of swing, scat, blues, jazz, and bop, Pezzotti is a modern day Ella Fitzgerald with a touch of Billie Holiday's knack for stirring up the audience's emotions.  Her scatting along the rhythmic grooves of "Jackie" summons an upbeat twang in her vocals that's infectious.  She shu...

Album:  The Rings of Saturn Artist:  Joanne Tatham Label:  Cafe Pacific Records Website:  https://www.joannetatham.com Vocalist Joanne Tatham celebrates the gorgeous sounds of cabaret blues on her CD The Rings of Saturn.  As one Washington Post reviewer praises her shimmering vibrato, her voice is touted for being "reminiscent of the pop balladeers of the late '50s and early '60s," liken to such crooners as Shirley Bassey and Dinah Washington. Some may feel her time has passed with the mid-20th century while others embrace Tatham's steadfast affection for everlasting music. A compilation of jazz standards, pop favorites, and original numbers, Tatham embraces the jazz cabaret syllabus of the mid-20th century on her recording, opening with Nina Simone's perennial tune "Love Me or Leave Me."  Rather than delivering the song in a Nina Simone-esque voicing, Tatham inscribes the melody with her own individual imprint and nuances, making the song sound...

Album:  R&D Artist:  Jeff Rupert and Richard Drexler Label:  Rupe Media Websites:  facebook.com/jeffrupertsax Saxophonist Jeff Rupert and pianist Richard Drexler come together for their second collaboration R&D, on the heels of their first offering together, Imagination in 2017.  The music captured on their latest release was a portion of two nights of music performed by the duo at the Timucua Arts White House in Orlando, Florida in June of 2015.  The standards featured on the recording demonstrate the pair's instinct to communicate meaningful exchanges with one elaborating on the other's thoughts, sometimes finishing the summary being posed to the audience.   The melodic progressions bond seamlessly as the two hewn imaginative phrases, which they parlay into reclining soundscapes. Lulling nocturnes and soothing bedtime-sounding passages emerge from the recording as Rupert and Drexler weave around one another.  Their re-imagine...

Album:  Open for Business Artist:  Ric Harris Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.theharrisgrp.com Blues is a rare breed of music.  It's artists come and go like sports figures but the style of music lives on, its torch to be carried by the next generation of blues virtuosos.  Each decade has witnessed blues artists having their heyday.  Its roots can be traced to the music of William C. Handy in the 1920's, coined as the Father of the Blues.  In his wake, Al Jolson brought the spotlight on blues through the 1930s while John Lee Hooker emerged in the 1940's.  To further briefly encapsulate the blues progress, Muddy Waters and BB King reigned through the 1950's, Ray Charles in the 1960's, Bo Diddley in the 1970's, Eric Clapton in the 1980's, and Blues Traveler in the 1990's.  The genre is a combination of ragtime minstrals, spirituals, ballads, and grooving romps with a tinge of honky tonk/hillbilly swagger, all of which can be heard...

Album:  Love Is a Song Anyone Can Sing Artist:   Jack Kilby and the Front Line Label:  Crab Shack Music Website:  www.jackkilbymusic.com The music of Love Is a Song Anyone Can Sing , the latest release from drummer Jack Kilby and his band the Front Line, speaks in a language that commingles the many facets of jazz. The selection of classic pop novelties, favorite popular theme songs, and hard bop standards are re-imagined with a contemporary twist, infusing them with a voice that gives these songs a human quality. From the whistling toots of Antonio Hart's saxophone personalizing "Life in a Glasshouse" to the glittering passages of Mark G. Meadows' keys in "Colors of the Wind," the tracks are stylized, brimming with inspiring nuances and sleek rhapsodies as the latter is cratered by the elegant spins of Braxton Cook's flute. The refined voicing of Christie Dashiell lingers with an amorous tint, strolling casually along "Pure Imagination," ...

Album:  Departure Artist:  Kenny Carr Label:  ZOOZAZZ MUSIC Website:  www.kennycarrguitar.com A student of bebop, guitarist Kenny Carr has fully immersed himself in the creative expression of jazz on his sixth studio recording Departure .  With all compositions written by Carr, the tracks are showered in influences of Latin-imbued shimmies and fusion-laced grooves crisscrossed by smooth jazz quills.  Joined by Donny McCaslin on saxophone, Kenny Wollesen on drums and percussion, and Hans Glawischnig on bass, Carr displays a snug rapport with his teammates that resounds a harmonious flux. The capricious squiggles of McCaslin's saxophone driving "D&P" are supported by a dance-funk groove in Glawischnig's bass line and Wollesen's thumping drumbeats, producing spontaneous figures spurred on by creative impulses.  The power-pop vibrations of Carr's guitar riffs lapping across "Evolutions" switch the direction of the recording to Glenn Frye-esque s...