jazz2love

Album:  I Was Here Artist:  Andy Ezrin Label:  Ez It Iz Music Website: andyezrinmusic.com Instagram: Andyezrinmusic A prolific composer, arranger, pianist, and bandleader, Andy Ezrin is the Sidney Sheldon of jazz, articulating life and its encounters as being fun and mind-opening exchanges, filled with experiences that expand one's world.  His music expresses thoughts in a lyrical symposium, embracing the joy generated from doing the work that one loves.  Andy Erzin's new release I Was Here , produced by Ezrin and Chris Hajian, is clad in original compositions and arrangements by Ezrin.  From the sheer merriment projected in "Grapes" to the relaxing ruminations that arch across "Greenwoman," Ezrin's nimble movements are accentuated by the freestyle verses played by Donny McCaslin on tenor saxophone and Randy Brecker on trumpet.  Improvisation and harmony walk hand in hand in the music, notably along the swift exchanges and spontaneous banter documenti...

Album:  The Vienna Sessions Artist:  Markus Burger Label:  Challenge Records Website: www.markusburger.com An ardent storyteller on the piano, Markus Burger strings together harmonious tales in his piano arrangements enlivening his latest release The Vienna Sessions from Challenge Records.  His recent trip to Vienna, Austria proved to be an inspiring sojourn that ignited creative impulses and sparked a surge of poetic prose on the piano keys.  Burger's meanderings form intertwining rings of melodic swirls, darting flickers, searing soars, and protracted lobes. The babbling brook personified by Burger's keys trickling across "Along the Creek" infuse a meditative atmosphere in the track, and embodies a Baroque-imbued vibe along the frolicking flicker of his keys ambling along "A Knight's Tale."  Each unfold into a harmonious arrangement that keeps the listener spellbound.  The dulcet strokes of Burger's keys evolve into glittery swells along "Caf...

Album:  The Still Point of the Turning World Artist: Paul Edis Label:  Lateralize Records Website:  https://www.pauledis.co.uk https://pauledis.bandcamp.com/album/the-still-point-of-the-turning-world Audiences are the captivated spectator while listening to pianist Paul Edis perform on his latest release The Still Point of the Turning World .  He plays with such total concentration that listeners feel like an intruder if they interrupt the recital.  His musings and meanderings on the keys are like poetry in motion, one thought leads into another, forming an expedition that consists of capricious turns, leisurely strolls, and meaningful flourishes.  Mixed and produced by Adam Sinclair, the compositions were written by Edis over the course of the 2021, and recorded in a day at Masterchord Studios in London. The microcosm that Edis creates is an insulated world influenced by the outside world.  The tracks are comprised solely of himself as Edis channels h...

Album:  Inertia Artist:  Oscar Rossignoli Website:  https://oscarrossignoli.hearnow.com Find Music:  https://open.spotify.com/album/4Wl0VMzFPw2qGCKXQaeLY3   Inertia , the debut solo recording from pianist-composer Oscar Rossignoli is overflowing with activity, vitality, vigor, and momentum.  The music is the complete opposite of the meaning of the word inertia, which stands for listless, dull, idle, and passive.  Pleasingly atmospheric, Rossignoli's recording takes listeners through ever-changing jaunts as he regales them with playful ramblings communicated from his keys. The slow, ambling notes of his keys exude a deep introspection through "Nocturne 1" as the keys glisten and rustle with the luster of varying shades of crystal.  The music seamlessly moves into the solemn and elating mood of "Pendulum 1"  The phrasing of the keys propel a sophisticated voice, an operatic sonorous that awakens intense vibrations and weighty emotions. The stor...

Album:  Serenata Artist:  Gregg Karukas Label:  Nightowl Records Website:  www.karukas.com Pianist Gregg Karukas presents romantic impressions of classic songs from iconic Brazilian artists Milton Nascimento and Dori Caymmi as well as new and reimagined originals penned by him on his 13th CD Serenata .  His elegant musings on the keys are dreamy, twining introspective meanderings, flowing in an eloquent phrasing.  Deeply emotional, Karukas's playing is penetrative, luring the listener with a passionate voicing resonating from the keys.  Track after track, Karukas's thoughts and feelings are palpable.  The lift in his keys along "Tudo O Que Você Podia Ser" puts a spring in his doodles that injects a sense of urgency with a stream of rumbling notes that loosens to a ruminating glide through "Better Days."  The reflective mood of "Clube da Esquina No. 2" traverses through picturesque vignettes like a storybook or a photo album relaying a monumen...

Album:  Day Dream Artist:  Alan Pasqua Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://alanpasqua.com A Steinway Piano artist, Alan Pasqua's music flows with the ease of rolling waters cutting a stream along a rock's edge.  The delicacy of his playing on his latest CD Day Dream can quiet squawking doves, calm a hungry mountain lion, or soothe a savage beast.   The willowy resonance of his keys will put audiences in a trance, eager to be swept up by the lulling temperament of his performance. Day Dream is an appropriate title for the idyllic movements in his phrases.  Tracks like "Old Cape Cod" and "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning/Smile" are laden with caressing strokes in Pasqua's keys, seguing into the brooding petting of the keys along "Polka Dots And Moonbeams," pervading a sense of loneliness and loss in the atmosphere.  Conversely, the twinkling notes of Pasqua's keys on "Upper Manhattan Medical Group" radiate an elation that...

Album:  Scarab Artist:  Wayne Alpern Label:  Henri Elkan Music Website:  https://www.waynealpern.com                 https://www.billytest.com Arranger/composer Wayne Alpern reimagines a selection of Beatles tunes with pianist Billy Test on his latest release Scarab from Henri Elkan Music.  The emotion Test puts into melodies like "Eleanor Rigby" and "Hide Your Love Away" allows audiences to hear something new, something more intriguing about the compositions.  His inherent sense of melodic versing is magical, choreographing seamless dances with the piano keys.  His improvised twists and imaginative tweaks enhance the natural lyricism in the melodies, emphasizing poignant moments along the chord progressions that make the listener stop and take notice. Alpern's interpretation of "Yesterday" projects passion laden with a fiery urgency that's comparable to one of Beethoven's momen...

Album:  Live in California Artist:  Dan Costa Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://www.dancosta.net Live in California , the new recording from pianist/composer Dan Costa is performed live at Kuumbwa Jazz in California on February 29, 2020.  A collection of original compositions by Costa are mingled with jazz standards from Brazilian composers including Antonio Carlos Jobim, Roberto Menescal, and Ivan Guimarães Lins.  An evening with Costa puts listeners in an uplifting mood. Costa's piano keys move in a poetic fashion, flickering with charming nimbleness in "Baião" and elegant brushstrokes across "Tempos Sentidos." His treatment of Lins's ballad "Love Dance" demonstrates the graceful pose in his swagger.  Skillfully, he threads dynamic turns along the phrasing of "Maracatu," and infuses classic jazz piano verbalization across Jobim's masterpiece "Garota de Ipanema." Live in California is Costa's third release follow...

Album:  Tiny Lights Artist:  Romain Collin Label:  XM Records Website:  www.romaincollin.com Keyboardist Romain Collin produces cinematic-size soundscapes on his latest release Tiny Lights from XM Records.  Track after track demonstrates his skills as a master creator and artistic manipulator of soundwaves.  Fusing power rock style guitar riffs with expressive jazz piano improvisations and electro-pop laden soundscapes, Collin's synthesis of diverse types of music comes together into a cohesive collective of eloquent phrasing and humanistic expressions. The dialogue transposed between the synth-textured notes and pumping beats in "Overflow" give the track an electro-pop-rock vibe, shifting to a haunting tone in "There Will Be Blood" as the heavy timbre notes loop into one another.  The psychedelic rock tremors of "Follow" form kaleidoscopic beams, putting the soundscapes in a state of flux.  Moving on, "Reprise" paints dramatic streaks i...