jazz2love

Album:  New Sounds from the Jazz Age Artist:  Lizzie Thomas Label:  LIzzie Thomas Music Website:  www.lizziethomas.net Jazz chanteuse Lizzie Thomas releases her fourth album, New Sounds from the Jazz Age , offering aurally gorgeous interpretations of nine classic standards from the Great American Songbook. Endowed with a soothing register reminiscent of her predecessors of the Jazz Age/Prohibition Era, Thomas renews the silky vibrations heralded from generation to generation, becoming a part of the collective consciousness.  Thomas' latest recording adds her voice to the global collective of gorgeous voices. The bossa nova sway of "In The Still of the Night" cradles the caressing vibrations of Thomas' vocals, ladling the melody with seductive undulations.  The fluidity of the track is graced by her warm vocal tones.  Quite a bit more jaunty, Thomas handles "One Note Samba" with the rapid gusto of a typewriter moving at 100 words per minute speed....

Album:  Resonate Artist:  Michal Martyniuk Label:  Sound Log Website:  https://www.facebook.com/martyniukmusic/ Instrument parts are layered and pleated, venturing off onto multiple paths and forming complex montages throughout pianist Michal Martyniuk's latest release Resonate .  Sprinting, trickling, pulsating, and glittering, Martyniuk's keys generate multiple movements while supported by a team of inventive minds, consisting of guitarist Kuba Mizeracki, saxophonist Jakub Skowroński, bassists Bartek Chojnacki and Cameron McArthur, and drummers Kuba Gudz and Ron Samsom.  The rhythm section follows Martyniuk's lead while Mizeracki's guitar tousles and frolics in a whimsical fashion, plumping up the tracks breadth as Jakub Skowroński's saxophone kindles the blazes.  The instrument parts form a collage of frenzied voices through "Mr. Eady," rippling and  splashing and creating a frothy whip.  Gliding into a reflective mood, Martyniuk's keys...

Album:  Let's Go Artist:  Sam Fazio Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.samfaziomusic.com Displaying a genuine reverence for classic jazz standards, vocalist Sam Fazio has a Perry Como style delivery, totally nonchalant and reflective in a voice that cradles the lyrics as though they are precious china.  His new CD Let's Go contains a selection of Great American Songbook standards, a few pop classics, and three originals written by his record producers Patti Cathcart and Tuck Andress.  A montage of bluesy vocal melodies, Fazio intimates human emotions that will move his audience. The swinging rhythm of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" brings out Fazio's playful side as his vocals traipse jovially across the melody, brimming a bright mood.  On the other hand, "Superstar" brings out the torchlight flickers of his timbres as he gleams a mellow tone, which turns to a glinting clip in the pop classic "Eleanor Rigby," written by John Lennon and Paul ...

Album:  Conjure Artist:  Jason Kao Hwang and Karl Berger Label:  True Sound Recordings Website:  https://jasonkaohwang.bandcamp.com/album/conjure Conjure , the latest CD from violinist-viola player Jason Kao Hwang and pianist-vibraphonist Karl Berger is indeed a collection of musical conjurations.  Some parts are melodic but most are abstract with a cinematic scope as though they were made for big screen psychological thrillers.  The twisted workings of the strings and reverberating vibraphone will sonically seem to represent the subconscious mind, tormented and nonlinear.  The compositions project images in the listener's head, brandishing a series of moments of tension and intervals of irregular chord patterns.  Experimental and entirely improvised, the compositions have a noir cast that is haunting and simultaneously inviting. The twisting weave and dissonance of the strings is trellised by the pitter patter of the vibraphone's notes ru...

Album:  And So It Begins Artist:  Lois Bruno Label: Wise Cat Records Website:  www.wisecatrecords.com Perhaps a part of the new generation of Las Vegas strip's Starlight Lounge vocalists and Manhattan's haughty Cafe Society icons, chanteuse Lois Bruno enchants, engrosses, and whisks listeners away with her rendition of popular jazz standards from the Great American Songbook on her latest release And So It Begins .  Supported by saxophonist Kenny Shanker, pianist Mike Eckroth, bassist Yoshi Waki, and drummer Brian Fishler, Bruno captivates audiences with her special brand of feminine touch. Her remastering of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart's monumental novelty "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" accentuates the lush resonance in her vocals.  Equally spellbinding is her treatment of Johnny Christopher, Mark James, and Wayne Carson's popular single "Always on My Mind" as she places poignant pauses along the verses that intensify the lamenting fe...

Album:  Something Good Artist:  Kelley Johnson Label: Oa2 Website:  https://kelleyjohnson.com Image a breezy day in the fall, walking through the streets for no particular reason merely on a whim while reflecting inwardly, filling one's mind with pleasing thoughts is the kind of mood Kelley Johnson's latest release Something Good will do for listeners.  From the opening number of "Anyone Can Whistle," Johnson whispers softly into the listener's ears, setting her audience off into a ruminative state of mind. Johnson indulges in a wayfaring pondering through "Goodbye To Love," even when recognizing that love has ended, she projects an optimistic mood that the future promises goodness to enter into life. There is a dominating theme in the recording, soliciting the listener's thoughts to roam, reflect, ramble, and journey into terrain that is often concealed, those intimate feelings that reveal one's vulnerable side.  In "You Do Something To...

Album:  Passion Artist:  Raquel Cepeda Label:  Raquel Cepeda Music LLC Website:  www.raquelcepedamusic.com Contemporary arrangements fuse classic American swing with Afro-Cuban accoutrements and Afro-Brazilian rhythms for a lively recording presented by vocalist-producer Raquel Cepeda on her latest release Passion .  The recording features re-imaginings of classic jazz standards like Duke Ellington's "Carvan" and "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing," alongside contemporary tunes like Cepeda's original works "From Afar" and  "Luz De Luna."  Both a party pleaser and conducive to intimate settings, Cepeda's recording finds it way into every lifestyle. The bobbing pulse of the keys and shimmying strut of the percussive beats form a conga-line style parade along "Berimbau," radiating a sunny ambience as Cepeda's vocals jangle a samba swivel, enhancing the festive mood.  Her vocals modulate to a tender...

Album:  Solo Sessions: Volume 1 Artist:  Brenda Earle Stokes Label:  Allsheneeds Music Website:  https://brendaearle.com Blues singer Brenda Earle Stokes shines brilliantly on her newest recording Solo Sessions:  Volume 1 .  The collection consists of a handful of jazz standards alongside original material and compositions seldomly heard penned by George Shearing and Steve Swallow.  Showcasing her talents as a singer, songwriter and pianist, Stokes demonstrates an affection for intimate lyrics shrouded in a torchlight glow. Her vocal stance is tall and proud in "Standing" as her keys twinkle stoutly, moving in a lyrical phrasing.  Many a times, Stokes's vocal delivery gives the impression that she is having a conversation with the listener like in "Weaver of Dreams."   She basks the listener in a cheerful mood as she flirtatiously incites, "You with your come hither smile / just to hear you speak just leaves me weak as a babe i...