jazz2love

Album:  Legacy Artist:  Hollywood Paul Litteral Label:  Outrageous8 Records Website:  www.angelamaeoneill.com From playful swing and upbeat jazz to reflective torchlight and solemn blues, bandleader and trumpet player "Hollywood" Paul Litteral, who obtained his nickname for his work in Los Angeles, portrays a diverse set of moods on his latest offering Legacy , released by Outrageous8 Records.  His assortment of jazz and pop classics are personalized, attributing his melodic sensibilities to these standards and revitalizing their special spark with audiences. The recording is packed with instrumentals sprinkled by vocal-led numbers like "Makin’ Whoopie," composed by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson.  The track features Anna Orbison on vocals, whose sensual phrasing and suave resonance puts an uplifting glaze over the strutting beats of Bill Bodine's bass and Michael Rosen's drums. Transcribed by Litteral's alto saxophonist Michael Mull, a bevy of horns sash...

Album:  Open for Business Artist:  Ric Harris Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.theharrisgrp.com Blues is a rare breed of music.  It's artists come and go like sports figures but the style of music lives on, its torch to be carried by the next generation of blues virtuosos.  Each decade has witnessed blues artists having their heyday.  Its roots can be traced to the music of William C. Handy in the 1920's, coined as the Father of the Blues.  In his wake, Al Jolson brought the spotlight on blues through the 1930s while John Lee Hooker emerged in the 1940's.  To further briefly encapsulate the blues progress, Muddy Waters and BB King reigned through the 1950's, Ray Charles in the 1960's, Bo Diddley in the 1970's, Eric Clapton in the 1980's, and Blues Traveler in the 1990's.  The genre is a combination of ragtime minstrals, spirituals, ballads, and grooving romps with a tinge of honky tonk/hillbilly swagger, all of which can be heard...