jazz2love

Album:  Wall Artist:  Dabin Ryu Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://www.dabinryumusic.com South Korea-born pianist Dabin Ryu makes her debut as a solo artist with her self-released CD Wall .  Featuring tracks that she composed, arranged, and produced, Ryu's music is plentiful with jazz-inspired improvisations from guitarist Kevin Scollins and saxophonists Boyce Griffith, Nathan See and Zoe Obadia.  Probing the jazz palette quite thoroughly, Ryu lets the musicians loose, creating a motley bouquet of rumpled churning and kaleidoscopic sprigs.  The audience will glean that Ryu spans her wings, experimenting with the capabilities of  the instruments and pairing instruments into innovative combinations. The recording is bookend by the wiggling and squiggling horns fashioning "The Light" with spontaneous bursts and the elegant verses of Ryu's keys tailoring "We Will Meet Again" to a torchlight glisten.  In between, the tracks vary from the noma...

Album:  Road Trip Artist:  Slide Attack Label: SACD Website:  www.slideattack.com Audiences are familiar to bands with dueling banjos or dueling guitars or dueling fiddles but it is quite a rarity to have twin trombonists feeding off each other, forming an engaging correspondence, and luring one another into a dynamic exchange. Slide Attack maintains a tradition spearheaded by trombonists J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, who helmed such a jazz combo through the 1950's.  Slide Attack is comprised of trombonists Howard Levy and Alan Goidel, who are accompanied by Hiroshi Yamazaki on piano, Michael Goetz on bass, and Chuck Zeuren on drums.  Their latest CD is entitled Road Trip, a collection of originals and jazz classics that indeed set listeners on a road trip, traversing across the jazz spectrum, basking in a cache of Latin swing, post bop, and smooth blues. The listener is given ample portions of each musician through the tracks from Yamazaki's twittering keys to ...

Album:  Dedications Artist:  Jazz from Planet Flippo Label:  Oppilf Records Website:  www.flippomusic.com Bandleader and keyboardist Dave Flippo demonstrates his astuteness to apply straight-ahead jazz attributes to a diverse range of melodies from adult pop to R&B/soul and classic arias.  Flippo shows that he can reimagine any type of song with jazz-infused trimmings, and he does so on his latest release Dedications .  Each track is dedicated to an individual in his life.  Supported by Donn De Santo on acoustic and fretless bass, Dan Hesler on saxophones and flute, Heath Chappell on drums, and Aras Biskis on percussion, Flippo personalizes each track. The recording opens with Stevie Wonder's "Too High" garnished in Flippo's twinkling keys and Hesler's flailing saxophone, producing an uplifting ambience anchored by De Santo's bopping bass and Chappell's splashing drums.  His re-interpretation of Amy Winehouse's mega-hit "Rehab" gives the ...

Album:  Inertia Artist:  Oscar Rossignoli Website:  https://oscarrossignoli.hearnow.com Find Music:  https://open.spotify.com/album/4Wl0VMzFPw2qGCKXQaeLY3   Inertia , the debut solo recording from pianist-composer Oscar Rossignoli is overflowing with activity, vitality, vigor, and momentum.  The music is the complete opposite of the meaning of the word inertia, which stands for listless, dull, idle, and passive.  Pleasingly atmospheric, Rossignoli's recording takes listeners through ever-changing jaunts as he regales them with playful ramblings communicated from his keys. The slow, ambling notes of his keys exude a deep introspection through "Nocturne 1" as the keys glisten and rustle with the luster of varying shades of crystal.  The music seamlessly moves into the solemn and elating mood of "Pendulum 1"  The phrasing of the keys propel a sophisticated voice, an operatic sonorous that awakens intense vibrations and weighty emotions. The stor...

Album:  Beautiful Things Artist:  Kenny Shanker Label: Wise Cat Records Website:  https://www.kennyshanker.com In the vane of a true bop artist, saxophonist Kenny Shanker explores his assets, the nimbleness of his raptures, the sharpness in his playing to accelerate or slow down the dialogue, and the clarity of his movements.  The program on his new CD Beautiful Thing s features both his originals and covers of jazz classics, applying his instinct for layering voices and entangling sequences. The torchlight countenance of "It Never Entered My Mind," penned by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, features Shanker's saxophone toots forming a weave of dreamy patterns layered in the creamy passages of Daisuke Abe's guitar and the smoldering embers of Mike Eckroth's piano keys.  Brian Fishler's rustling drum strikes produce a steady base for "Mirth" as Shanker's sax soars and billows with wild abandonment, withdrawing when Bill Mobley's trumpet takes...

Album:  Lost in a Dream Artist:  Kristin Callahan Label:  Ivy Door Music Website:  https://kristincallahanmusic.com DC-based vocalist Kristin Callahan wraps verses around the calming aesthetics of bluesy swing and bossa nova on her new release  Lost in a Dream , a balmy collaboration with co-producer, arranger, and bassist Eliot Seppa. Following up her previous albums A New Love and One Magic Day,, Callahan projects an introspective voicing on her latest endeavor, often in the backdrop of breezy instrumentation promulgated by Matvei Sigalov on guitar, Tom Teasley on percussion, and Mark Prince, Carroll Dashiell III, and Lee Pearson on drums.  Also accompanying Callahan is Seppa on bass, Joe Herrera on trumpet, and Matt Rippetoe on saxophone. Callahan's melodic sensibilities are prevalent throughout the recording, demonstrated exquisitely in her soothing timbres draping around Teasley's undulating percussion on Duke Ellington's ...

Album:  Into the Night Artist:  Eric Goletz Label:  Consolidated Artists Publication (CAP Records) Website:  jazzbeat.com/?project=eric-goletz                   facebook.com/EricCGoletz Trombonist, keyboardist and composer Eric Goletz shows his affinity for different styles of music on his latest release Into the Night from smooth jazz to funk, blues, pop/rock, and Cuban/Latin swing.  The listener is exposed to various musical influences, making for an iridescent ride. The candlelight ambience of his original work "After Hours" is buffered by the Latin-flavored gyrations of the title track and the  funky jazz swells of "Steppin' Out."  In each, the bristling notes of Goletz's trombone drive the tracks, bopping, purring, and blaring at various degrees.  His magnetic playing keeps the tracks moving and evolving, galvanizing the other instruments and cauterizing th...

Album: Bredux:  Collected Edges Artist:  Kaylé Brecher Label: Penchant Four Music Website:  http://www.brecherjazz.com Vocalist Kaylé Brecher spotlights her expressive voicing, approaching her song choices on her ninth release Bredux: Collected Edges with an avant garde-bent.  Selecting tunes that enable her to exercise her talent for vocal improvisation and to explore the nuances inherent in her register, Brecher's arrangements brim with authenticity, fusing her eclectic taste with modern jazz arrangements. Brecher's vocals elicit a distinct ambience in each track from the soothing tone of her timbres whisking across the island breezes of "Under Paris Skies," propagated by Todd Groves's piccolo, to the jumping jive strut in her versing along "Spy Music."  Changing to a burlesque sway through "Cool," Brecher's scatting asserts her expressive side, bringing out her flair for improvising sounds. The spontaneity in her singing displays her in...

Album:  Frankenstein Artist:  Wayne Alpern Label:  Henri Elkan Music Website:  www.waynealpern.com Frankenstein , the new CD from composer Wayne Alpern is a compilation of jazz standards and classic pop tunes interpreted with contemporary trimmings.  Solo excursions are performed by Mike Davis and Boscarino on trombones, Tatum Greenblatt and Brad Mason on trumpets, and David Mann on reeds.  Filling out the melodic passages is the ambling stride of guitarist Kevin Ramessar, the sauntering gait of keyboardist Andy Ezrin, and rhythmic pulse of bassist John Patitucci and drummer Clint DeGanon. Alpern's vision for Andrew Lloyd Webber's "All I Ask of You," from the musical Phantom of the Opera , engenders the horns with an elevating slant that uplifts the listener and bolsters a serene vista.  Alpern has a melodic acuity that positively affects listeners with his interpretation of this classic score.  The recording fastens a swing jazz propulsion on "Mo...

Album:  Distance Artist: Kenny Carr Label: Zoozazz Music Website:  www.kennycarrguitar.com Fusion guitarist Kenny Carr revisits several original compositions that he wrote over 25 years ago and revised them with contemporary imagings for his ninth release Distance .  Classically trained, Carr embraces a large swathe of the music spectrum including free jazz, blues, roots rock, and soul funk.  Integrating a vast array of attributes, Carr explores his prowess as an open-minded artist. The gritty roots rock tone of Carr's guitar soaks into every fiber of "Arrival," forming vibrating streaks across the track.  The recording cools to a soothing lather through "Until Then," as Carr's guitar strings radiate bright shimmers across the melodic bed.  Switching to a bluesy tint along "Like Old Times," Carr's guitar shoots beams of light, forming a pattern of glittering flickers, supported by the steady rhythmic pulse of bassist Lincoln Goines and drummer ...

Album:  Tres Libre Artist:  Dan Moretti Label:  Roots Grooves Records Website:  www.danmoretti.com International saxophonist and composer Dan Moretti showcases his affinity for improvised jazz, Latin-infused funk, and ambient blues on his latest release Tres Libre .  Moretti's original compositions range from the contemplative musings of "The Missing Breath" to festive and bustling romps like "Jim Brown's Cousin."  Moretti’s twentieth album, Tres Libre displays his depth as an improviser and performer. Opening with the funk-induced merriment of "Jim Brown’s Cousin," Moretti's alto sax soars above the bustling beats of drummer Marty Richards and bassist Marty Balliou, generating a jaunty groove. Moving forward, the floating musings of Moretti's sax give "Mumbo Jumbo" a smooth blues sheen as the palpitating splashes in the drumming and Ray Gennari's bass project a gentle simmer in the belly of the track. “Pandeiro-Funk” injects...

Album:  Best Buddies Artists: Troy Roberts & Tim Jago Label: Toy Robot Music Website:  www.toyrobotmusic.com Post bop, swing, cool jazz, and jazz improvisation are all elements which can each be found in the recording Best Buddies from saxophonist Troy Roberts and guitarist Tim Jago.  Supported by Karl Florisson on acoustic bass and Ben Vanderwal on drums, Roberts and Jago flex their creative instincts, articulating a call and response banter that embodies the phrase freedom of expression. The quartet's symbiotic repartee demonstrates their best friends relationship as each acts like a catalyst for the others, building on one another's statements and moving the course of the melodic progressions forward.  Jago's original composition, “A New Porpoise,” is an energetic interaction among the band members.  Based on Bronisław Kaper’s iconic “On Green Dolphin Street,” Vanderwal slings a playful rhythmic patter as Roberts sax whips up a cool froth and Jago's guit...