by Mark Saleski Baritone sax (Evans) and piano recorded live at a church. The room gave just the right amount of natural reverb, which is a great thing because too much echo can muddy all of those wonderful details my ears parts expect from the bari sax: clacking valves, breathyRead More
A rock song about Buddhism that you can dance the Charleston to, boasting not one but two bad-ass guitar leads? That’s a party tune, Steely Dan style.
by Mark Saleski Hey, so the trio is actually a quintet. Sort of. In any event, there’s a healthy dose of telepathic interplay on this disc. I particularly like how Summers plays his soprano sax (he plays alto as well) off of David Braid’s piano on “Contemplation.” There are alsoRead More
by Mark Saleski Ever have a dream where the impossible has suddenly come true? No, I don’t mean something like you’ve won the lottery, or you finally hooked up with that special someone. No, I’m talking about the impossible. In my case, it was my guitar playing ability. For aRead More
by Tom Johnson With his 2001 release, Poses Wainwright (yes, the son of Loudon Wainwright III) gave the world a breath of fresh air. Often set to what amounts to modern day Tin Pan Alley tunes, Wainwright uses his voice to display something that so often goes ignored these daysRead More
Usually when we’re on the topic of a record led by a drummer, the story will be about a bandleader and sometimes, the primary composer, who also happens to be the drummer. You May Also Like: Claudio Scolari, Daniele Cavalca, Simone Scolari – Natural Impulse (2018) Dan Cavalca – ‘LightsRead More
by Mark Saleski You just can’t go wrong with the B-3. Saxophonist Dan Pratt might be running the show, but it’s B-3 player Jared Gold who is the secret weapon here. Secret weapon #2 (Wait, is it OK to have two?) is trombonist Alan Berber. Go ahead and check outRead More
Musician and street poet Gil Scott-Heron, best known for “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” died today. Cause of death was not immediately known; he was 62. Scott-Heron started out at the dawn of the 1970s as a jazz-inclined R&B singer and spoken-word performer, a rapper years before the genreRead More
by Mark Saleski There are drummers who can keep time, who stay out of the way in the effort to enhance their fellow musicians’ sound. Moving a step beyond that are people like Joe Chambers, who play with so much nuance and obvious consideration for the ongoing moment that whatRead More
Vacation Part 3. OK, so I didn’t win the lottery. I didn’t buy a big house on the Maine coast. There was no affair with the real estate agent. But you could have probably guessed all of that. You May Also Like: Why You Should Give Pat Metheny’s ‘Rejoicing’ AnotherRead More
