jazz2love

Album:  Celebration Artist:  Josh Levinson Big Band Label:  Wise Cat Records Website:  https://www.joshlevinsonseptet.com/news Trumpeter-composer Josh Levinson releases his fifth recording, appropriately named Celebration .  A multi-layered blending of big band, swing, hard bop, blues, hot jazz, and meringue, the tunes are deeply rooted in jazz traditions with a contemporary flare.  A veritable crowd pleaser, Levinson presents a dozen of his original works, entwining aesthetically pleasing motifs and fiery licks, parlayed into a harmonious whirlwind that keeps the audience's mood uplifted. At the core of the compositions are the horns, performed by Josh Levinson on trumpet, Mike Troy, Itay Goldberg, Greg Lapine, Matt Knoegel, and Bryan Cowan on saxophones, Roger Garcia, Mark McGowan, and Ben Seacrist on additional trumpets, Tim Shneier, Matt McDonald, Glenn Mills, and John Alexander on trombones .  The collective produces tiers of elevating spirals ac...

Album:  Jazz Party Artist:  Delfeayo Marsalis and the the Uptown Jazz Orchestra Label:  Troubadour Jass Records Website:  www.dmarsalis.com On a mission to make music that uplifts, excites, and invigorates in the traditional jazz culture style of New Orleans, trombonist and bandleader Delfeayo Marsalis embarked on his latest offering Jazz Party , creating what audiences perceive to be happy jazz.  Indeed, he accomplishes his mission and delivers to audiences very happy, hot jazz on the recording with the big band splash of jazz music's forefathers. The twittering of the horns through "Blackbird Special" integrates funky swells contoured in Latin swing, and big band panache.  The party atmosphere has a catchy exuberance that is authentic in its delivery as the instruments interlock along the motifs.  The cha-cha rhythm underpinning "7th Ward Boogaloo" has horns trading off solos, entering intermittently and changing the bouncy vibrations that make th...

Album:  Ain’t It Grand Artist:  Glenn Crytzer Orchestra Label:  Blue Rhythm Records Website:  www.glenncrytzer.com Ain’t It Grand , the latest project from the Glenn Crytzer Orchestra, makes audiences feel like they are attending a Jazz Age Lawn Party circa 1930’s.  The sizzle of the horns, the rattle of the drums, the pearlescent texture of the piano keys, and the caressing tone of the vocals are hallmarks of America’s Jazz Age, spanning from the Roaring ‘20s to the post-Prohibition period of the 1930s.  The music is reminiscent of the days of Cab Calloway, Paul Whiteman, and Artie Shaw, when 53rd Street in Manhattan, renamed swing street, was the hub of cabarets and dancehalls featuring boogie woogie, hot jazz, lively blues, ragtime,  Dixieland, and swing. A collection of old-time favorites, forgotten treasures, and originals, the 2-disc compilation is a chock full of merriment from start to finish.  “Who’s Yehoodi” is a prime example of a ...