jazz2love

  Label:  Self-Released Release Date:  June 20, 2025 Websites:  www.thebevelededges.com https://www.shellybhushan.com/music/ https://www.anthonylanni.com/music.php https://linktr.ee/thebevelededges Singer-songwriter Shelly Bhushan has a voice that can stop traffic.  Her collaboration with nylon string guitarist-composer Anthony Lanni goes by the moniker The Beveled Edges.  Their debut release I Guess We're Not Alone is a listening experience that leaves a lasting impression on its audience.  The succor-rich strumming of Tex-Mex tones complimented by an alluring sway emanates from Lannie's guitar strokes, embroidered throughout the tracks as Bhushan sweetly serenades the listener with her shimmery timbres and elastic resonance.  A romantic gleam shrouds the tracks in a torchlight mist as Bhushan takes the listener by the hand, guiding one through a proverbial woodland of aural tranquility and  sonic bliss.  Their fusion of soul, blues, s...

Album:  Dream Artist:  Nancy Newman Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://nancynmusic.com/ Vancouver, British Columbia jazz vocalist and songwriter, Nancy Newman has the effect of a nightingale's call, enshrouding the listener in wispy plumes of tranquility.  Her 2025 release Dream is her third endeavor as a solo artist.  She describes it features “9 jazzy interpretations of classic pop and jazz standards.”  Her commanding vocalese as an intoxicating storyteller sweeps across the listener's ears like a gentle breeze, warm to the touch and tender on the soul. Newman projects an intimacy with her audience in her rendering of "Moonraker," helmed by her fluid vocal sonorous and buttressed by the soft embers of Jennifer Scott's keys and Bill Buckingham's synth, supported by the steady beats of Rene Worst's bass and Buff Allen's percussion.  It is as though Newman knows instinctually how to reach into the depths of a dreamer's reflections.   Fro...

Album:  It's Hard To Say Goodbye Artist:  Enrico Granafei Label:  CAP Records Website:  www.enricogranafei.com http://Facebook..com/enrico.granafei]Facebook.com/enrico.granafei YouTube channel: Youtube.com/@johnmeixner1809 IG: @granafei Jazzbeat.com/project/enrico-granafei It's Hard To Say Goodbye , the fourth US release from harmonica virtuoso, classical guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and composer Enrico Granafei, is a compilation of Latin-infused jazz rhythms sauté ed in Granafei's soulful playing.  Inspired by harmonica master Toots Thielemans, Granafei illustrates the potency of the reed instrument to helm the melodic direction of arrangements as its wind-imbued texture intensifies the make-up of the scores.  Composing six of the 11 tracks, Granafei's delivery affects the listener profoundly. He titled the album It's Hard To Say Goodbye in memory of three people who were very special to him:  Toots Thielemanns, and two musicians who pla...

Album:  Making It Up As We Go Along Artist:  Lauren White Label:  Café Pacific Records Website:  Laurenwhitejazz.com Making It Up As We Go Along is vocalist Lauren White's fifth album and showcases her refined vocal style.  Her voice shines on the ballads, demonstrating an easy command of the soft vocal inflections in her register and a penetrating tenderness when she cradles the lyrics as though she lived through the stories she describes.  Working with producer Barbara Brighton, White exhibits a leaning to sing love songs that delve into the complex entanglements bound to surface while consumed in a mature affair. The jazz romp “Unlikely Valentine," penned by Ron Boustead, is a poignant example of White's attraction for songs that delve into the complexity of love, portraying two people who like to play the field and are surprised when they fall in love. The swinging horns performed by Brian Swartz on trumpet and Katisse Buckingham on saxophone brim with...

Album:  Dreams Lost and Found Artist:  Halie Loren Label:  Nettwerk / Justin Time Records Website:  https://halieloren.com/ Jazz vocalist Halie Loren approached her 2024 release, Dreams Lost and Found, focusing on songs that speak to the listener about "finding new visions for love and life, allowing some dreams to die to make space for new dreams to be born," according to the press release.  Finding what she was looking in the classic folk pop repertoire and jazz vocals catalogs, Loren offers a delightful array of tunes that entice her audience to release entanglements of the past and leap into the present.  Well versed in soul pop, torchlight jazz, and coffeehouse folk, Loren provides her audience with an enthralling fare. Jumping out at the listener is Loren's rendition of "C'est Le Printemps," written by Jean Sablon, Jean Geiringer, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein.  Her nuanced vocals make the lyrics come alive, revealing a charming animat...

Album:  No More Excuses Artist:  Danette McMahon Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://danettemcmahon.com/bio/ Having received a scholarship to attend Houston Baptist University for music and drama, vocalist Danette McMahon blends the essence of R&B/soul with facets of torchlight jazz, Latin swing, and adult pop on her latest release No More Excuses .  Containing two cover tunes and twelve originals songs written by McMahon, the recording is laden in lyrics with adult themes, finding hope and strength amidst life's trials, losses, and heartbreaks.  She woos her audience into a comfy respite with the starry, dream-like escapes sewn across "Life Goes On" and "Come Dance with Me," as she intimates the lingering sentiment of a sorrowful past while in the next breath embraces love and strength of a positive outlook for the future. The music swings harmoniously like a tender caress that works as a balm on the listener.  Such smooth swing also surfaces ...

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:  The DIVA Jazz Orchestra "30" Artist:  The DIVA Jazz Orchestra Label:  DIVA Jazz Website:  www.divajazz.com Celebrating their 30th year of swinging around the world, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra earmark the occasion with their 2023 outing The DIVA Jazz Orchestra "30," recorded live at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club in New York City.  Featuring selections from the band's music library over the years, the recording elevates the body and calls for audiences to experience pure joy. The DIVA Jazz Orchestra is described in their press release as "an ensemble of fifteen versatile, multi-generational musicians who expertly balance enthusiastic energy with sophisticated subtlety, virtuosity, and imagination." Entwining elements of swing, torchlight blues, big band, and straight-ahead jazz, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra knows how to keep their audience dancing in the aisles.  "Every Day I Have The Blues," a persevering hit for Pinetop Sparks and Me...

Album:  Daybreak Artist:  Susan Krebs with Mixed Remotions Website:  https://susankrebsmusic.com Daybreak , the eighth album from soul-blues vocalist Susan Krebs celebrates the trope of torchlight jazz. Joining her is her band dubbed the Mixed Remotions, comprised of Rich Eames on piano, Jerry Kalaf on drums and vibraphones, Domenic Genova on bass, Scott Breadman on percussion, Riner Scivally on guitar, and Rob Lockart and Doug Walter on woodwinds From the Latin-imbued sway of the title track to the waltzing gait of Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer's  jewel "How Little We Know," her interpretation of classic torchlight tunes sprinkles a refreshing glint on these handful of timeless melodies. The andante pace of Krebs's vocals infuses the title track with an infectious sprint. The sweeping glide of her vocals whisks listeners out of their chairs and invites them to join along the leisurely ride. There is a conversational tint in Krebs's lilting vocals that leads ...

Album:  The Heart Wants Artist:  Jo Harrop Label:  Lateralize Website:  https://www.joharrop.com/about If the Beatles had a female band member, she would have been singer-songwriter Jo Harrop.  Of course, the Beatles would have needed to arrive 60 years later than they did to make that happen.  To everyone else's good fortune, Harrop has arrived, and her latest CD The Heart Wants features all original songs written by her and accompanied by sparse arrangements, placing her nuanced vocals in the forefront.  The smoky textures of her vocals give the tracks a misty veneer like she recently brushed off old memories and brought them up to the surface for reflection.  Her voicing is appealing like that of an old friend coming along and taking a trip down memory lane.  The audience isn't merely a spectator but is invited inside to remember along with Harrop those moments that earmarked chapters in one's life. Her voice turns sultry and flirtatious ...

Album:  Lovesome Thing, Anaïs Reno Sings Ellington & Strayhorn Artist:  Anaïs Reno Label:  Harbinger Records Website: www.anaisreno.com Lovesome Thing, Anaïs Reno Sings Ellington & Strayhorn is a modern tribute to the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn from vocalist Anaïs Reno.  Produced by Gianni Valenti and Juliet Kurtzman and arranged by Emmet Cohen and Reno, the music was recorded in 2020 when Reno was 16 years old.  The song selection makes a statement about the artists who influenced her and the range of her vocalese. The smooth, sleek stride of her vocals blanket tunes like Ellington's masterpieces "Caravan" and "Mood Indigo" with sheets of warmth reminiscent of vintage Lainie Kazan and Dinah Shore.  Both singers were prominent vocalists through the 1960's but like these two women, Reno's singing is ageless, inherently classically versed.  Her classical versing enlivens Ellington's "Chelsea Bridge/A Flower Is a Lovesome ...

Album: The Rebecca Kilgore Trio - Vol. 1 Artist: Rebecca Kilgore Label: Heavywood Website: www.rebeccakilgore.com Jazz vocalist Rebecca Kilgore has 50 plus recording projects in her coffer, acting as both a leader or co-leader.  As one of the most respected interpreters of the Great American Songbook, Kilgore is a torchbearer of Prohibition Era jazz and New Millennium Jazz. The creamy texture of her vocals is reminiscent of the cabaret singers of yesteryear.  Based in Portland, Oregon, Kilgore has worked with many of the top jazz musicians in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.  For her newest recording, The Rebecca Kilgore Trio - Vol. 1 , she leads Randy Porter on piano, Tom Wakeling on bass, and Kilgore’s husband, Dick Titterington, who plays cornet on a few tunes. The recording is an eclectic mix of jazz standards that she mined from the Great American Songbook like Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom's "Day In, Day Out,” Dinah Shore's “The Gentlemen Is a Dope,” and Richard Rod...

Album:  Wall Artist:  Dabin Ryu Label:  Self-Released Website:  https://www.dabinryumusic.com South Korea-born pianist Dabin Ryu makes her debut as a solo artist with her self-released CD Wall .  Featuring tracks that she composed, arranged, and produced, Ryu's music is plentiful with jazz-inspired improvisations from guitarist Kevin Scollins and saxophonists Boyce Griffith, Nathan See and Zoe Obadia.  Probing the jazz palette quite thoroughly, Ryu lets the musicians loose, creating a motley bouquet of rumpled churning and kaleidoscopic sprigs.  The audience will glean that Ryu spans her wings, experimenting with the capabilities of  the instruments and pairing instruments into innovative combinations. The recording is bookend by the wiggling and squiggling horns fashioning "The Light" with spontaneous bursts and the elegant verses of Ryu's keys tailoring "We Will Meet Again" to a torchlight glisten.  In between, the tracks vary from the noma...

Album:  My Funny Valentine Artist:  Grace Haggerty Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.gracehaggerty.com My Funny Valentine , the new solo offering from vocalist Grace Haggerty, is pristinely put together.  An assortment of jazz standards from the perky swinging thrusts of Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" to the Brazilian smoothness of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Quiet Nights, Quiet Stars," Haggerty whisks listeners along a pleasing voyage that elevates the senses and stirs elation. The repetitive tossing motion of Mauro Refosco's percussion contours Haggerty's vocals in a soft kindle along "You Go To My Head," giving the track a cocktail shaker trope.  Artfully, "Quiet Nights, Quiet Stars" is seasoned in Calpyso-hued flickers as Angelo DiPippo's accordion moves in and out of the track with whirling figures that stimulates the listener's pulse.   Endowed with a whispery vocalese reminiscent of Judy Collins,...

Album:  He & Me Artist:  Ada Bird Wolfe Website:  adabirdwolfe.com                 facebook.com/jazzbirdie He & Me , the latest release from singer and lyricist Ada Bird Wolfe, is a duo with pianist and arranger Jamieson Trotter.  The pair perform an assortment of jazz standards and original tunes, demonstrating the smooth texture of Wolfe's register, which conjures up an intimacy with audiences that lures them to the stories being told in the songs.  The drama in the tales is subdued by Wolfe's calm voicing and clarion timbres.  Her refined phrasing is complimented by Trotter's silky swagger on the keys.  Together, they construct very pleasing atmospheres for listeners. Call it soft swing, rhapsody blues, torchlight jazz, or cabaret, the music of Wolfe and Trotter present palatable moods using vocals and piano.  Their subtle variations on the melodic motifs of Dizzy Gillespie's gem "Night in Tunisia...

Album:  DNA (David-Nelson-Agreement) Artists:  Mon David and Josh Nelson Label:  Dash Hoffman Records Website:  mondavid.net                 joshnelsonmusic.com Vocalist Mon David expresses the emotional depth of songs through the vibrant inflections in his voice.  A strapping crooner, David's latest release DNA is his collaboration with pianist Josh Nelson.  The acronym stands for David-Nelson-Agreement, a title that describes their collaboration and insight into what audiences will hear.  What audiences will hear is David and Nelson's refashioning of jazz standards and original straight-ahead jazz-inspired tunes, giving them a bright  torchlight gleam. David lulls the listener into a blissful state through tracks like "Here's To Life" and "You Must Believe in Spring."  The gentle strokes of Nelson's keys shroud David's vocal inflections in sheaths of tender glitter....

Album:  What We Had Artist:  Rebecca Angel Label:  Timeless Groove Records Website:  www.rebeccaangel.net Merging Latin swing, modern jazz, and cabaret blues, vocalist/composer Rebecca Angel's balmy broth is laden with creamy sensations making her debut release What We Had entirely mesmerizing.  The music gently shimmies and rustles as her gentle voicing massages the melodic swells.  She engulfs the listener in pleasing aesthetics from the calming undulations of the title track to the bossa nova-drenched wisps of "Agora Sim," both penned by Angel. "Feel Alive" blossoms with a contemporary adult pop coating trimmed in Latin swing accents changing to a smooth grooving rhythm along "Stand By Me," written by Jerry Leiber and Mie Stoller.  Angel hitches the latter melody to a modern doo-wop inspired chassis that fits her vocals snugly.  The Latin-jazz facets of "Jet Samba" feature a sizzling cha-cha in the rhythmic action, saddled by Angel's ...

Album:  Can't Get Out of this Mood Artist:  Beverley Church Hogan Label:  Cafe Pacific Website:  http://www.beverleyhogan.com/ Torchlight vocalist Beverley Church Hogan intimates human vulnerabilities, temporal desires, and lingering reflections about life on her debut recording Can't Get Out of this Mood .  Projecting a dimly lit atmosphere in the sparse throbs of Lyman Medeiros' bass, the strolling gait of John Proulx's piano keys, the gentle strums of Graham Dechter's guitar, and the lightly brushed strokes of Clayton Cameron's drumming, Hogan creates a cozy setting for her audiences as though she is tapping into their thoughts and emotions on a personal and private wavelength. She ruminates in the title track, "Can't get out of this mood / Last night your lips were appealing / The thrill should have been all gone by today / And the usual way / But it's only your arms I'm out of / Can't get out of this dream / Oh, w...