jazz2love

Album:  Imaginary Trains Artist: Michael Whalen Label:  MWM/Spout label through Six Degrees Distribution/INgrooves/UMG Website:  www.michaelwhalen.com Imaginary Trains , the latest CD from keyboardist Michael Whalen is a diverse compilation of evolving soundscapes and ambient passages.  From the Hot Chip's-like sci-fi sebrings of "Against the Sky" to the smooth ruminating phrases of "Across the World To Be With You" featuring vocalist Ricky Kej, Whalen's melodic sequences create imaginary vistas that delight the mind and stimulate the aural senses. The tranquilizing soundwaves of "My Immortal Beloved" attribute human-like traits to digitally composed music, producing roving waves that crest and slope.  The music gives the illusion of traveling, evolving from one melodic pattern to the next while continually engaging the listener. Gently lit flickers are sprinkled along "The Wayward Sun" froth in fomenting rattles and fizzles, creating an ...

Album:  True Stories Artist:  Mark Wade Label:  Mark Wade Music Website:  http://markwademusicny.com Modern jazz composer and bassist Mark Wade looks to jazz luminaries like Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Wayne Shorter for wisdom while making music that serves his day and age.  His latest release True Stories is not a rehashing of straight ahead jazz/after hours club music from a bygone era but rather his arrangements are a descendant of the works from such pioneers of the art form.  Audiences will recognize that Wade has a kindred spirit with after hours club staples.  He is a product of their lessons and willpower to see that jazz music endures into contemporary times. Wade exhibits a frolicking nature along the recording, continuously shifting the dynamics moving effortlessly from being somber like in "Song with Orange and Other Things" to jovial like in "I Feel More Like I Do;" from being sedate and reflective like in "Falling Delores" to uplifti...

Album:  IRA The Tribute Album Artist:  The Blue Road Records Band Label:  Blue Road Records Websites: www.blueroadrecordsstudio.com www.brevsullivanguitar.com The house band for Blue Road Records, which includes guitarist Brev Sullivan, the son of the late saxophonist Ira Sullivan, celebrate the works of Ira Sullivan on their new release IRA The Tribute Album .  The bebop artisan Ira Sullivan has performed with jazz luminaries like Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Roland Kirk, and Art Blakey, scoring himself solos that resonated with artists of his class.  As time passed, Sullivan chose to focus on teaching at the esteemed Frost School of Music, becoming one of the leading jazz educators in the U.S., mentoring several generations of up-and-coming musicians. Sullivan's music reflects the complex nature of jazz fusion, partnering elements of blues, pop, bebop jazz, swing, and soft rock.  Part smooth jazz and part adult contemporary, the music of Ira Sullivan is ...

Album:  Secular Rituals Artist:  Wayne Alpern Label: Henri Elkan Music Website:  www.waynealpern.com If celestial bodies could sing, people would imagine they'd sound like Wayne Alpern's soundscapes from his latest release Secular Rituals . Notes float like wandering silhouettes, both delicate and symphonic sounding, emerging and withdrawing spontaneously, each working harmoniously and separately. Written, composed, arranged, and performed by Alpern, the recording characterizes a series of illustrations, using notes that usually form dialogues and conversations are building pictures that change and evolve organically. Audiences may detect a myriad of influences in Alpern's music such as a reggae-skew in the flittering whistles along "Brave Art," joined by the Gaelic accents of a bagpipe's echo.  The jaunty pulse of the keyboards helming "Sista Re" wield a rhythm and blues ilk, and the percussive beating threading through "Triangularity" inf...

Album:  Songs of Berlin Artist:  Marc Secara and his Berlin Jazz Orchestra Label:  GAM Website:   https://marcsecara.de Founded in 2000 by German singer Marc Secara, the Berlin Jazz Orchestra has been regaling audiences for over twenty years with their blend of popular swing jazz.  Under the artistic direction of American trombone legend Jiggs Whigham, the jazz ensemble has proven to be a genuine crowd pleaser.  Their latest CD Songs of Berlin garners them another triumphant moment in their track record. Singing in both German and English, Secara's charming vocal strut adapt to the individual atmospheres, showcasing a flirtatious samba shimmy along "Haus am See" and modulating to a fluid flutter through "Berlin," displaying an intimacy with the listener of a Tom Jones persuasion.  Secara brings out a romantic leaning in the track, which switches to a vibrant spring along the swinging rompers "Berlin in Licht" and "Mackie Messer," alighting a...

Album:  Sing A Song of Bird Artist:  Roseanna Vitro Label:  Skyline Records Website:  https://roseannavitrojazz.squarespace.com/skyline-records-1 Sing A Song of Bird is the 15th recording from Grammy-nominated vocalist Roseanna Vitro, who shares vocal leads with some of her mentors including the late bebop jazz legend Bob Dorough, Sheila Jordan, and Marion Cowings each of whom take solo turns, imprinting their own unique and soulful interpretations on several compositions by Charlie "Bird" Parker.  The recording is a celebration of Bird’s music, conceived and guided by Vitro.  Produced by Paul Wickliffe, the release relishes the fancyfree spirit that enabled Parker to take flight. The buoyant scatting along "The Scatter" infuses a percolating thrust into the melody, giving the tune a catchy vibe.  Moreover, the elevating flights made by Mark Gross on alto sax propping up "Bird's Song" stir up merriment from start to finish.  The recording cools t...

Album:  Within Us Artist:  Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge Label:  Summit Records Website:  https://www.chuckowen.com Composer-bandleader Chuck Owen builds vibrant landscapes with his 19-piece orchestra The Jazz Surge.  Their latest recording Within Us is a compilation of nostalgic swing and big band energy merging with modern practices and creative phrasing.  Owen's compositions and arrangements are steep in traditional jazz parlences while exercising a playful character that integrates influences of contemporary and classic American folk/roots music, blues-infused rhapsodies, and ambient torchlight. The melodic paradigms of the opener "Chelsea Shuffle" are modelesque while maintaining a spontaneous playfulness.  Vibraphonist Warren Wolf adds dimension to the spiraling woodwinds and brass instruments.  The mood turns solemn in "Trail of the Ancients" displaying a Celtic lilt in Sara Caswell's violin.  The track coalesces folksy textures with ...

Album:  Feel Again Artist:  Elena Maque Website:  https://www.elenamaque.com The confluence of soul and cool jazz is illustrated beautifully and meaningfully on vocalist-saxophonist Elena Maque's latest release Feel Again .  Diametrically different, the two styles of music have a true pathfinder in St. Petersburg, Russia born and Seattle, Washington based Maque whose tender vocal resonance can beguile a baby to sleep and equally brandish steamy vibrations that stir uplifting moods in listeners. Her remake of "And I Love Her" by the Beatles emotes a hypnotic sensuality that brings out a feminine allure, wrapped in the smoky mist of Leonardo Amuedo's guitar and the soft rustle of Brad Dutz's percussion, adding a bossa nova texture to the melody. Amuedo's guitar solo ignites a poignant, fiery blaze whose sinewy flame is slowly doused in the closing of the tune.  The sensual swerves of Maque's saxophone cruising along her original track "Weightless" ...