jazz2love

Album:  Prime Vintage Artist:  Steve Snyder Trio Label:  DPU Records Website:  https://stevesnyder1.bandcamp.com/album/introducing-prime-vintage The Steve Synder Trio, led by pianist Steve Synder, embraces the smooth bluesy soundscapes, whittled by the organ trio format, notably following in the vane of Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Leon Spencer, and Larry Young.  The trio's debut release Prime Vintage offers Synder the opportunity to present his original work plus his reworking of Leo Nocentelli's score "Message From The Meters."  A prolific improviser, Synder flexes his attributes as a leader and harmonizer, taking cues from his musical influences while branching out on his own, entrusting his imagination and ear for melodious chord patterns to lead him. Accompanied by Joel Tucker on guitar and Kenny Phelps on drums, the Steve Synder Trio take the leap into jazz improvisation, honing an ease of motion that makes their music pleasing. The harmony, which th...

Album:  The DIVA Jazz Orchestra "30" Artist:  The DIVA Jazz Orchestra Label:  DIVA Jazz Website:  www.divajazz.com Celebrating their 30th year of swinging around the world, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra earmark the occasion with their 2023 outing The DIVA Jazz Orchestra "30," recorded live at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club in New York City.  Featuring selections from the band's music library over the years, the recording elevates the body and calls for audiences to experience pure joy. The DIVA Jazz Orchestra is described in their press release as "an ensemble of fifteen versatile, multi-generational musicians who expertly balance enthusiastic energy with sophisticated subtlety, virtuosity, and imagination." Entwining elements of swing, torchlight blues, big band, and straight-ahead jazz, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra knows how to keep their audience dancing in the aisles.  "Every Day I Have The Blues," a persevering hit for Pinetop Sparks and Me...

Album:  Rezurrektion Artist:  Wayne Alpern Label: Henri Elkan Music Website:  www.waynealpern.com Reimagining compositions is a talent of arranger, composer and leader Wayne Alpern that has garnered him worldwide notoriety.  His 2023 offering Rezurrektion features a string quartet, the Sirius Quartet, that integrates jazz idioms into a classical repertoire.  The recording reconfigures 5 compositions of Mozart followed by a mash-up of works by Jonathan Larson and Edvard Grieg.  Another track is a reinterpretation of Duke Ellington's classic piece "Black Beauty" before closing with a reworking of George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess." The outcome is a lavish and bountiful feast that showcases Alpern's visionary inclination.  His penchant to meticulously knead chord patterns makes each note call to the listeners attention with effortless persuasion.  Listeners are naturally drawn to the music, hanging onto each phrase, each transition, each crescendo, ...

Album:  Islands Artist:  Dan Bonsanti and 14 Jazz Orchestra Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://www.14jazzorchestra.com/new-release---islands.html Islands , the 2023 release from composer and arranger Dan Bonsanti and his band, the 14 Jazz Orchestra, is a collection of swinging, big band jazz arrangements with 11 straight-ahead jazz tunes that merge big band bubbles with adult contemporary easiness, nuanced in jazz-imbued elegance.  Textured in jaunty keys liaised with smooth horns and cruising rhythmic beats, the recording fills the listener with pleasurable sensations that last from start to finish. A feel good recording,  Bonsanti and his orchestra attain a state of enjoyment achieved by the likes of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the Guy Lombardo Big Band.  The warm aesthetics emanating from the horns along "Part of Me" bathe the listener in cozy atmospherics, then traverse into a bossa nova shimmy across "Carmencita," written by Mike Levine, B...

Album:  Up and Gone Artist: The Moore-McColl Jazz Society Label: Madison Records Website: www.mooremccolljazz.com In the vane of jazz fusion combos like Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and Sly and the Family Stone, the music of The Moore-McColl Jazz Society has a jam session vibe, acting as a conduit of the present phase of bluesy, grooving, strutting, cool jazz along the time continuum.   As time moves forward, so too does the music of The Moore-McColl Jazz Society.  Comprised of Beth Moore (vocals, piano, Rhodes, and organ) and Chance McColl (electric guitar and vocals), the duo exhibit a bond that enthralls the listener.  Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the pair's third recording Up and Gone fuses a modern panoply of blues, funk, and contemporary hues of jazz. The opening track, “What’s Still Happening!!” has a ‘70s-inspired buoyancy, accentuated by the lobbing arcs of the alto saxophone and the gritty blues features of McColl's guitar riffs.  Moore's gr...

Album:  The Venetian Artist:  Vin Venezia Label:  Innervision Records Website:  www.vincentvenezia.com Guitarist Vin Venezia's latest release, The Venetian , features 13 tracks consisting of vintage jazz standards, contemporary works, and original material by Venezia.  Supporting Venezia are Richie Morales on drums, Harvie S on bass, David Budway on piano, Danny Walsh on tenor saxophone, and special guest Bob Magnuson, who plays tenor sax on Miles Davis's gem "Solar" with a fervor reminiscent of Davis himself. Venezia mesmerizes the audience with his interpretation of Victor Young and Ned Washington's tune "Stella By Starlight," stroking his guitar strings with a tenderness that ignites waves of soothing emanations. Another vintage standard "Alone Together," penned by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, is treated with a funky flare in Harvie S's grooving bass line as Walsh's tenor sax intersperses twirling toots along the rollicking prog...

Album:  Avalanche Artist:  Anton Davidyants Label:  Jazzist Website:  https://bassasylum.com/bass-guitarists/anton-davidyants Subtle and symphonic, Avalanche , the debut recording from bandleader and bass guitarist Anton Davidyants, is a melodic collection of refined and dynamic instrumentals.  Each track is a descriptive vignette, portraying the lively interaction of the band members, forming a labyrinth of entangling chord patterns and spiraling instrumentation. Comprised of 6 movements, the suite of Avalanche is a stream of multi-faceted soundscapes, landscaped by Evgeny Lebedov's babbling keys contoured by silhouettes of soaring strings and a plethora of fluttering horns, all supported by the steady grooves of Davidyants's bass and Ignat Kravtsov's drums.  Swirling whirlwinds amass across "Avalanche Part 1," transitioning into the sedate passages of keys and strings twisting and meandering along "Avalanche Part 2." The whispery sonorous of the keys ...