jazz2love

Album:  Blues for Ochún Artist:  Benjamin Lapidus Label:  Tresero Productions Website:  https://benjaminlapidus.com Blues for Ochún from multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Lapidus explores the fusion of jazz-inspired grooves with Latin rhythms and tribal spirituals soaked in Aftro-Cuban accents.  Comprised of an assortment of duos, trios, and quartets, Lapidus takes listeners across uplifting vistas and exotic soundscapes. The chanting sonorous of vocalist Jadele McPherson echoes hypnotically across the title track and the subsequent track "3 for Ochún," stoking the soothing swells formed by Lapidus' guitar strings.   Lapidus tells in the liner notes that the two tracks "are meant to be heard one after the other, as one long piece."  He goes on to describe, "In 1997, I first traveled to the shrine of Cuba's patron saint La Virgin de la Caridad del Cobre, who is syncretized with the orisha, [the] Yoruba ancestry/spirit [of] Ochún." "Cachita"

Album:  Tuesday's Child Artist:  Robert Kyle and Alyse Korn Label:  Dark Delishious Music Websites:  ARMusic.org Robertkyle.com Facebook.com/robertkylemusic Facebook.com/alysekornmusic Tuesday's Child , released from Dark Delishious Music, is comprised of nine original compositions written and performed by veteran reed player Robert Kyle and pianist-vocalist Alyse Korn. The songs are lyrical expressions, partnering smooth jazz with Latin swing, ambient aesthetics, and American soul and blues.  Accompanied by Kevin Winard on drums and percussion, Hussain Jiffry and Ahmet Turkmenoglu on bass, and Leonice Shinneman on tabla, each track emanates peace and harmony from every fiber. Kyle's saxophone soliloquy ruminates with a meditative slant in "Your Light," ebbing as Korn's breezy keystrokes amble softly along the melodic course.  The track incites quiet introspection, giving the listener some alone time with private thoughts.  The upbeat stride in Kyle's sax

Album:  Living In A Daydream Artist:  Miguel Espinoza Flamenco Fusion Label: Self-Released Website:  miguelespinozafusion.com Living in a Daydream is Miguel Espinoza Flamenco Fusion’s third full length album, featuring original compositions by leader and guitarist Miguel Espinoza.  Along with Espinoza is cellist Dianne Betkowski and bassist Randy Hoepker at the group's core.  Also performing on the recording are guest musicians Howard Levy on harmonica and piano, Andy Skellenger on tabla, cajon, and vocals, Mario Moreno on congas, timbales and percussion, Linda Richardson on castanets, and Nabin Shrestha on tabla and vocals. The stimulating fusion of flamenco guitar with jazz improvisation, Latin dance grooves, and folkloric soul is an exciting blend that breeds merriment and liveliness through the swirling rustles of the strings from Espinoza's guitar, Betkowski's cello, and Hoepker's bass traversing across "Nagi Yaté."  Like celestial bodies sparkling in th

Album:  Better Days Artist:  Mr. Chair Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://www.mrchairmusic.com/ From whirlwind-like flourishes to dulcet soundscapes, jazz septet Mr. Chair takes audiences through a prismatic excursion of original works on their latest release Better Days.  The placid sonorous of "Abandoned Cities" causes listeners to pause and reflect as José Guzmán's guitar riffs reach a depth that affects the emotions, while the picturesque vista portrayed by Mark Hetzler's trombone and Eddie Barbash's also sax furling languidly along "Elergy" evokes peace and serenity.  The mood changes as surges of passionately-driven gusts from Jason Kutz's trickling keys and Hertzler's flaring trombone interlace along "Appellation Spring" with the rhythmic traction of bassist Ben Ferris and drummer Mike Koszewski holding the progressions stable.  A Caribbean accent simmers from the soft undulations of the rhythmic beats as Barbash's saxo

Album:  Our April Tigers Artist:  Michael Whalen Label:  MWM/Spout (Six Degrees Distribution/InGrooves) Website:  https://www.michaelwhalen.com When singer-songwriter Yoko Ono made a guest appearance on the 1990's TV sitcom Mad About You, she requested that the documentary filmmaker Paul Buchman, played by Paul Reiser, create a film about the wind.  Bandleader Michael Whalen has not made a film about the wind but he has certainly made a recording that from the listener's viewpoint sonically illustrates the movements the wind, putting into a tangible form what the wind communicates from what it sees.  Imagine the wind in the role of an observer of the temporal world, and the audience is hearing what this observer sees and communicates using music as its form of expression. Whalen's latest offering Our April Tigers projects such a sonic imagery laden in thought-provoking symphonies that audiences will relate to the sounds of nature from the voices of its ethereal elements an

Album:  Nu Jive: Live at the Perth International Jazz Festival Artist:  Troy Roberts Label:  Toy Robot Music Website:  https://troyroberts.com/ https://troyroberts.bandcamp.com/album/nu-jive-live-at-the-perth-international-jazz-festival Nu-Jive, led by composer and saxophonist Troy Roberts and supported by guitarist Tim Jago, keyboardist Silvano Monasterios, bassist Eric England, and drummer David Chiverton, has released their first live recording, captured at 2022's Perth International Jazz Festival.  Based in Roberts' hometown of Perth, West Australia, where he made his debut at the festival 11 years prior, the recording consists of two complete shows, performing tracks from the quintet's portfolio of studio albums. In Nu-Jive's fashion, the ebbs and flow in the melodic patterns have a spontaneous feel, demonstrated by the prancing keys of Monasterios, cresting and receding intermittently across "Tribes and Tribulations," creating space for Robert's saxo