jazz2love

Album:  Saxology Artist:  Wayne Alpern Label:  Henri Elkan Music Website:  www.waynealpern.com Saxology, the latest release from leader and arranger Wayne Alpern, showcases a quartet of saxophones performed by Steve Kenyon, Todd Groves, Dave Noland, and John Winder.  The recording features an array of jazz standards and classic pop novelties reworked with Alpern's acute sensibilities and finesse. The sassy twizzles accenting the saxophones phrasing and their fiery punctuations dotting "Fascinating Rhythm," written by George and Ira Gershwin, shows Alpern's confidence to take control of the reins and make moves along the track that are bold and daring.  Alpern's treatment of the Beatles pop hit "Hide Your Love Away" is envisioned with a torchlight ambience as the softly twirling saxophones evoke a reflective mood. Another pop hit for the Beatles, "When I'm Sixty-Four," is delivered with vaudeville-style pomp and joviality.  Contrastly, Rich...

Album:  Once Upon a Summertime Artists:  Sharon Sable and Joe Holt Label:  Self-Released Websites:  SharonSableMusic.com                   JoeHoltNotes.com Vocalist Sharon Sable and pianist Joe Holt fell in love with the music of another time, the classic jazz era, and it shows on their self-released recording Once Upon a Summertime .   The pair perceive classic jazz as an era when musicians performed songs that speak directly to people's hearts.  From material that has filled the lounges of casinos to the corridors of jazz festivals, Sable and Holt's repertoire contains stimulating reinterpretations of classic tunes and rare novelties. The pair's retweaking of Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's bluesy mid-tempo "You Fascinate Me So" is driven by Sable's smooth vocal strut with Holt's keys punctuating the lifts along the melodic progressions.  Stoking a swinging groov...