Album Review: The Sphinx from Jonathan Ng
Album: The Sphinx Artist: Jonathan Ng Label: Self-Released Website: http://jonathanngmusic.com Old-time ragtime and swing are coalesced with contemporary jazz trimmings on violinist-vocalist-bandleader Jonathan Ng's new CD The Sphinx . Fun and refined, the music is laden in the jaunty beats of drummer Josh Collazo and upright bassist Seth Ford-Young, and fringed in the perky swivels and swirls of Ng's violin and Albert Alva's tenor saxophone. Their melodic patterns are augmented by a spritz of Chris Dawson's bubbly piano keys and Luca Pino's breezy guitar chords. Comprised of snazzy covers that re-fashion timeless jazz standards along with Ng's own original composition in the title track, the recording is a fresh look on swing themes and ragtime motifs. Starting from the close of the recording, Ng's version of Hoagy Carmichael's reflective piece "Stardust" is mesmerizing as Ng's violin trades solos with Dawson's keys, each...