jazz2love

Album:  Live at Blue Bamboo Artist:  Chris Cortez Label:  Blue Bamboo Music Website:  bluebamboomusic.com Rife with good vibrations, Live at Blue Bamboo from guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader Chris Cortez offers audiences a sweet escape from the rigors of the real world.  Recorded live, Cortez and his ensemble craft buoyant scores, requiring nothing more from listeners than to absorb the pleasing melodies sprinkled in improvisations that complement the arrangements. Coalescing facets of straight ahead jazz, Latin swing, bop, and rhythm and blues, the recording is melody-driven, providing ample solo excursions from flutist Dan Jordan, trumpet player John DePaola, and tenor saxophonist Jeff Rupert.  The shuffling pattern of Bob Thornton's keys traipsing across “Arlington Park” is augmented by the incisions made by Rupert's sax and DePaola's trumpet, amplifying the jovial mood.  The bopping rhythm of "The Visit" is a sprightly piece, changing into a ...

Album:  Hermanos Artist:  Cortez-Williams Project Label: Blue Bamboo Music Website: https://bluebamboomusic.net/cortez-williams-project https://www.orlandoatplay.com/event/cortez-williams-project-4 The Latin flavors and nocturnal ambiences of guitarist Chris Cortez and percussionist/trumpet player Larry Williams are honed into a verdant field of feel good expressions throughout the duo's release Hermanos from the Blue Bamboo Music label.  From the sprightly gait of the title track, spruced in the frilly keys of pianist Bob Thornton, to the trundling stride of "Melody Makes It Happen," buttered in the bourbon tones of Dan Jordan's tenor saxophone, the recording serves listeners with a bounty of pleasing aesthetics. Williams's star-gazing twinkles scrolled on the trumpet give "Glorious!" a refined luster as Cortez's sensitive musings on the guitar burnish an introspective atmosphere.  The bossa nova sway of Williams's trumpet emblazes "Un Ped...