jazz2love

Album:  Try This Artist:  Bill Moio Label: ITI Records Website:  billmoio.com Jazz guitarist Bill Moio’s second album as a leader, Try This , demonstrates his command of the blues/soul milieu as well as his prowess as an eloquent songwriter.  His gift is honing melodic musings into smooth ambiences that incite the mind to drift across pleasing stratospheres.  Featuring a complementing array of musicians that includes George Whitty on keyboards, Wayne Bergeron on trumpet, Andy Martin on trombone, Eric Marienthal on saxophone, Tommy Brechtlein on drums, and Jimmy Haslip and Mel Brown intermittently on bass, Moio proves himself to be a meaningful connoisseur of the blues, jazz, soul fusion.  His arrangements flow seamlessly, radiating sensitivity and grace across the melodic movements, making a likeable impression on the listener. The Latin-tinged swagger in Moio's guitar chords rippling across "Arroz Con Pollo" is heaven to the ears, enhanced by the animated ...

Album:  NOhMAD Artist:  Seulah Noh Jazz Orchestra Label:  Self-Released Website:  seulahnoh.bandcamp.com/album/nohmad A warm blend of soul jazz, straight-ahead jazz, and torchlight jazz, NOhMAD , from the Seulah Noh Jazz Orchestra, is the debut recording led by pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Seulah Noh.  Comprised of six original compositions by Noh and two covers arranged by Noh, the release is an ambitious endeavor that demonstrates her breadth of influences and exposure to material within the jazz spectrum and outside its sphere. Each track resonates a soul, specific personality traits that the listener can recognize.  "Hear the Light" features the ruminating scrolls of the tenor saxophone, communicating a message of comfort and warmth in the listener's ears.  "Heartsong" brandishes a reflective vibe in the swirling strings, radiating a tenderness in the graceful swish of their flight.  The soft flutter of the strings brushing across...

Album:  It's Alright With Me Artist:  Liz Terrell Label: Westmont Records Website: www.lizterrell.com The rich sonorous of Liz Terrell's vocals make listeners turn their heads in her direction.  Her 2022 release It's Alright With Me is a compilation of classic pop and jazz standards that she treats with her distinctive stylizing. A stylizing that audiences will relate to the soulful inflections of Thelma Houston and the arresting luster of torchlight crooner Nina Simone, augmented by a dreamy, bluesy vocalese that lingers in the mind long after the recording comes to a close. Her treatment of Cole Porter's trademark melody "Night and Day" highlights the swing jazz elements of the track, turning the balladry verses into a simmering burner with bopping traction.  Her phrasing adjusts to the soars and inclines along the chord movements, as though knowing when to emphasize a lyric and when to let her resonance drift off.  Her vocal inflections certainly heighten ...

Album:  We've Just Begun Artist:  Sinne Eeg & The Danish Radio Big Band Label:  BFM Jazz Website:  https://www.bfmjazz.com/sinne-eeg We've Just Begun , the latest offering from Danish vocalist Sinne Eeg is a collection of jazz standards performed in her deep bluesy register and features the Danish Radio Big Band backing her up.  The assortment of vintage swing and torchlight blues melodies harks back to the clarion voicing of jazz music's pioneers like Billie Holiday and Dinah Shore. The refinement in Eeg's vocal nuances are alluring, moving with a charismatic stride along "Hv asorfor er lykken så lunefuld" as the winsome scatting in her vocalese embellishes the tune, giving it greater depth and sex appeal.  Stretching out her vocal inflections through the verses of "Detour Ahead' enhances the intimate mood that she conveys with her audience, making the enunciation of the words long and languid, oozing with desire in her delivery of the lyric...

Album:  Intimate Journey Artist:  Michael C. Lewis Label: Cybervision websites:  www.michaelclewis.com                  www.karigaffney.com Creamy jazz isn't technically a genre on the music spectrum but listeners know it when they hear it, and it is indisputable that trumpet player/vocalist Michael C. Lewis has made a mold for it on his sophomore offering Intimate Journey .  A fusion of soul, soft funk, R&B, adult contemporary pop, and cool jazz, the recording finds diversity in the simple pleasure of staying within the confines of its single mission.  A mission to make music that soothes the soul, caresses the body's rattled nerves, and relaxes the overactive mind. The music is richer than the style of smooth jazz that is heard over the intercoms of coffee houses, shopping malls, casino rooms, or cabarets.  It is music that is conducive to intimate moments, being alone with a spe...