jazz2love

Album:  Within Us Artist:  Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge Label:  Summit Records Website:  https://www.chuckowen.com Composer-bandleader Chuck Owen builds vibrant landscapes with his 19-piece orchestra The Jazz Surge.  Their latest recording Within Us is a compilation of nostalgic swing and big band energy merging with modern practices and creative phrasing.  Owen's compositions and arrangements are steep in traditional jazz parlences while exercising a playful character that integrates influences of contemporary and classic American folk/roots music, blues-infused rhapsodies, and ambient torchlight. The melodic paradigms of the opener "Chelsea Shuffle" are modelesque while maintaining a spontaneous playfulness.  Vibraphonist Warren Wolf adds dimension to the spiraling woodwinds and brass instruments.  The mood turns solemn in "Trail of the Ancients" displaying a Celtic lilt in Sara Caswell's violin.  The track coalesces folksy textures with ...

 Album:  You, Me & Cole Artists:  Noa Levy and Shimpei Ogawa Label:  Self-Released Website: noalevylive.com                basshipogw.wixsite.com/shimpeiogawa An emotive chantueuse, singer Noa Levy is paired with upright bass player Shimpei Ogawa on their latest CD You, Me & Cole , The recording consists of the duo's interpretations of some of Cole Porter's most memorable tunes, fusing traits of caberet blues, torchlight jazz, and Broadway style burlesque.  The arrangements reflect the duo's melodic sensibilities for playful nuances and whimsical improvisations.   Levy's sensuous vocal phrasing through "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" purrs like a siren leading the Broadway show Gypsy.  The pair's mixture of sultry tango and beefy klezmer form a complementing harmony that resonates a American jazz feel with an European flare.  The pulsating beat of Ogawa's bass driving  the s...