jazz2love

Album:  Solo Artist:  Ricardo Silveira Label:  Moondo Music Website:  https://en.ricardosilveira.com                   https://musicabrasileira.org/artists/ricardo-silveira Solo , the latest CD from guitarist-composer Ricardo Silveira offers a compilation of reflective musings which are the grist for the atmospheric soundscapes.  His performance is sparse, making audiences intensely aware of each note, each lift, each inflection, and each curve made along the tracks.  The listener isn't a spectator but actually walks with Silveira through the music, experiencing the rolling knolls and melodic expressions articulated by Silveira. Silveira includes six of his original tunes, all of which he recorded on previous albums but re-imagined for his solo guitar effort.  Filling out the recording is a selection of songs written by notable Brazilian composers like Marcos Valle and...

Album:  Re-Connection Artist:  Greg Loughman Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.gregloughman.com After hours jazz, the type of music one will hear pouring out of the doorways of a string of nightclubs along a New York City strip in the middle of the night, is the type of escape Greg Loughman presents on his latest release Re: Connection .  His collection is reminiscent of the call and response exchanges notably pioneered by the avant garde musicians of the 1960's and '70s like Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, and Albert Ayler. The solos performed by Loughman's array of horn players in "Isolation" is gripping.  Each phrase made by the saxophones, trumpet and clarinet is intense as they intertwine into a lively conversation with Loughman's bass weaving creases into the track. One horn calls to another and a chain of response and reaction commences into an embroiling exchange.  The mass entanglement enables the listener to follow the phrasing of each perfo...

Album:  White Sails Blue Skies Artist:  Tanya Dennis Label:  PaLoma Records Website: https://tanyadennis.com Starlight and moonbeams are some of the images that singer-songwriter-violinist-guitarist Tanya Dennis' music on her 2021 release White Sails Blue Skies conjures up in the listener's mind.  Brimming with romantic ambiences throughout the recording, Dennis resonates a wise, old soul in her voicing that audiences instantly trust and discern her genuine nature. Having written seven of the ten tracks on the release, Dennis's arrangements are spellbinding. Densely populated in atmospheric ethers, the music puts listeners in a reflective mood as Dennis's vocals caress the dreamy swells of "Desolation Sound" with a soothing touch, transitioning into the island sway of "Indigo," penned by her good friend and Hall of Fame songwriter Kostas, as her creamy vocal texture is spangled in Hendrik Meurkens's buoyant harmonica twirls. Dwelling in the drea...

Album:  Lovesome Thing, Anaïs Reno Sings Ellington & Strayhorn Artist:  Anaïs Reno Label:  Harbinger Records Website: www.anaisreno.com Lovesome Thing, Anaïs Reno Sings Ellington & Strayhorn is a modern tribute to the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn from vocalist Anaïs Reno.  Produced by Gianni Valenti and Juliet Kurtzman and arranged by Emmet Cohen and Reno, the music was recorded in 2020 when Reno was 16 years old.  The song selection makes a statement about the artists who influenced her and the range of her vocalese. The smooth, sleek stride of her vocals blanket tunes like Ellington's masterpieces "Caravan" and "Mood Indigo" with sheets of warmth reminiscent of vintage Lainie Kazan and Dinah Shore.  Both singers were prominent vocalists through the 1960's but like these two women, Reno's singing is ageless, inherently classically versed.  Her classical versing enlivens Ellington's "Chelsea Bridge/A Flower Is a Lovesome ...

Album:  Tiptoes Artist:  Max Highstein Website:  www.MaxHighsteinMusic.com Audiences will recognize there is a familiarity about Max Highstein's music.  Like these are tunes that have come into their lives before while they are standing on line in a store, sitting in a doctor's waiting room, eating dinner at an upscale restaurant, or watching a TV show or commercial.  His latest outing Tiptoes is clad with music that generates a casual feel with its warm temperament and blissful aesthetics palatable for the general public's consumption.  Highstein has been perceived as a New Age artist, and Tiptoes 's attributes fit the genre's criteria.  But the music is more overarching, owning traits emblematic of ambient jazz, sonic pop, soft rock, and R&B/soul.  Simply put, Highstein's music is a melting pot of influences that appeals to all types of societies.  The swirling notes of Highstein's sax are nestled alongside Ed Willett's furling cello c...

Album: The Rebecca Kilgore Trio - Vol. 1 Artist: Rebecca Kilgore Label: Heavywood Website: www.rebeccakilgore.com Jazz vocalist Rebecca Kilgore has 50 plus recording projects in her coffer, acting as both a leader or co-leader.  As one of the most respected interpreters of the Great American Songbook, Kilgore is a torchbearer of Prohibition Era jazz and New Millennium Jazz. The creamy texture of her vocals is reminiscent of the cabaret singers of yesteryear.  Based in Portland, Oregon, Kilgore has worked with many of the top jazz musicians in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.  For her newest recording, The Rebecca Kilgore Trio - Vol. 1 , she leads Randy Porter on piano, Tom Wakeling on bass, and Kilgore’s husband, Dick Titterington, who plays cornet on a few tunes. The recording is an eclectic mix of jazz standards that she mined from the Great American Songbook like Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom's "Day In, Day Out,” Dinah Shore's “The Gentlemen Is a Dope,” and Richard Rod...

Album:  Shadows Fall Artist:  Jonathan Karrant & Joshua White Label: JKR Website:  www.jonathankarrant.com The duet of vocalist Jonathan Karrant and pianist Joshua White come together on Shadows Fall.  Their collaboration seeps into the listeners skin, holding them in rapt attention as the program moves through a medley of jazz standards and classic pop tunes..  Karrant's vocals sink deep into the listener's soul as White's easy-riding saunter cushions the melodies in glimmering embers.  The collection has a timeless quality, sure to be relevant through the ages. Karrant's personalized delivery along "Being Me," one of Abbey Lincoln's signature pieces, is striking, accentuating poignant words and lodging meaningful inflections along the phrasing.  Karrant's and White's melodic sensibilities are genuinely in sync, honing a repartee that is magnetic and appealing.  Karrant parlays Holly Knight and Mike Chapman's song "Simply the Best,...

Album:  Midtown Walk Artist:  Francesco Amenta Label:  Amenta Music International Website:  https://francescoamentajazzlab.weebly.com Saxophonist-composer Francesco Amenta's arrangements are like individual pages from his diary that he puts to music on his latest offering Midtown Walk .  His second endeavor as a leader, Midtown Walk consists of impressions he has gathered and experiences he has encountered while living in the US, which he migrated to in 2017 from his native Italy.  Mostly comprised of original tunes penned by Amenta, his offering additionally has one cover tune of Duke Ellington's iconic "Come Sunday." The lush flourishes he pens on the saxophone fill up the melodic chambers of "Home" as well as direct the course of the score.  The creamy, smooth texture and elegant glide in his playing is reminiscent of saxophonist Andrew Neu.  Joined by pianist Cyrus Chestnut whose lyrical musings along "Bunch of Time" embed shimmery sprigs acr...

Album:  Ayna Veer Artist:  Ayna Veer Label:  Self-Release Website:  https://aynaveer.com          https://aynaveer.bandcamp.com Ayna Veer's self-titled recording layers ambient passages with improvised jaunts tailored by alto saxophonist Vernau Mier and pianist Aydin Esen.  Supporting Mier's and Esen's spontaneous flights is drummer Eric Valle and double bass player Nadav Erlich.  Reflective moments are interspersed with soaring verses rife with heady frenzies and fomenting whirlwinds.  The recording is a pleasing cruise that fuses ambient soundscapes and jazz idioms. The natural fluidity of the melodic passages creasing "Secret Wallflower" lays the groundwork for Mier's swathe of improvised expressions on the saxophone.  The agile doodles performed by Nadav Erlich on bass along "Improvisation #2" give the track an avant garde skew, moving into pioneering terrain  through "Trip to H" with Eisen's nimble move...

Album:  Folk Songs, Jazz Journeys Artist:  Alex Martin Label: Pajarito Verde Records Website:  www.alexmartinmusic.com Guitarist-bandleader Alex Martin documents a personal journey through his music on his latest CD Folk Songs, Jazz Journeys .  He toggles between the sounds of West Africa, America's Appalachia region, Northeast Brazil, and Celtic Europe, making an amalgam that he dubs New World Jazz.  The storytelling versing in his melodies is moving, impelling listeners to open their minds to the expressive lyricism in his harmonic models. The pensive mood of "The Kudzu, the Dust, and You" spotlights the slow rocking motion of Martin's guitar chords joined by Ethan Foote's languid bass pulls and Keith Butler, Jr.'s sleek drum strikes.  "Viceversa" illuminates Martin's musical setting of a Spanish-language poem by famed Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti, taking audiences to Brazil with the folkloric timbre of Martin's guitar and the island s...

Album: Excursions Artist: Adam Glaser Label: Self-Released Website: www.adamglaser.com Audiences have become accustomed to attending virtual meetings.  However, few are acquainted with music being composed virtually.  Pianist-bandleader Adam Glaser's new recording Excursions encapsulates 15 instrumentals, all composed, performed, programmed, and recorded entirely by Glaser using virtual instruments.  His mix of synth-driven electronica, funk-pop, blues, jazz, R&B, and orchestral embellishments make for an upbeat listening experience. "Con Artist" has an R&B orientation with electrified instrumentation adorned in spiked guitar chords and pulsating synths breathing contemporary idioms.  The exotic chimes accenting "Who Wants Lentil Soup?" are honed into a playful melody that delights the aural senses.  Glaser's manifestations, whether intentional or not, are clad in pleasing aesthetics ignited by the blazing horns tooling "A Little Bit of Your Lo...