Post Tagged with: "Jazz"

Vinyl

Half Notes: Earl MacDonald – Re: Visions (2010)

By Mark Saleski Subtitled “Works for Jazz Orchestra,” this album showcases the arranging talents of Earl MacDonald as well as a stellar cast of cohorts. I have to be honest here and say that big-ish bands are not usually my thing. That is, unless they’re doing something “odd” (see: CarlaRead More

Vinyl

Half Notes: Charles Evans/ Neil Shah – Live at Saint Stephens (2009)

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

Vinyl

Half Notes: Tyler Summers Trio – Live at the Cellar (2010)

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

Vinyl

Sonny Rollins – Plus Four (1956, reissue)

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

Vinyl

Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011): An Appreciation

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

Vinyl

Half Notes: Joe Chambers – Horace To Max (2010)

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

Vinyl

The Friday Morning Listen: Charlie Haden/ Pat Metheny – Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997)

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

Vinyl

Half Notes: Rufus Reid and Out Front – Hues Of A Different Blue (2011)

When I listened to the all-time-great bassist Rufus Reid’s brand new CD Hues Of A Different Blue for the first couple of times, it kind of threw me for a loop. Last year’s release Out Front, an SER “Best of 2010: Mainstream and Modern Jazz” selection, was the perfect bass-ledRead More

Vinyl

The New Gary Burton Quartet – Common Ground (2011)

Vibraphonist Gary Burton’s entire career as a musician has been about thinking outside the box and exploring new frontiers in jazz music. You May Also Like: Pat Metheny, Gary Burton + Danny Gottlieb, “Hommage” (2015): One Track Mind Julian Lage – Arclight (2016)

Vinyl

Half Notes: Avery Sharpe Trio – Live (2010)

by Mark Saleski First off, I just have to say that this album, recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio in Boston, sounds gorgeous. Many modern recordings, even in the quieter jazz realm, are tainted by the overuse of compression. Not so here. The inner detail of Winard Harper’s cymbal workRead More