making a Scene

CHAD EDWARDS WYOMING ROADS Independent Label Chad Edwards, piano/organ/composer; Robert Kyle, saxophones/flute; Hussain Jiffry, basses; Kevin Winard, drums/percussion. The Chad Edwards project comes lilting through space like a gliding seahawk. The very first tune, “Wyoming Roads” is an original by the pianist.  He was inspired by a road trip where he set out to feel […]

ANTONIO ADOLFO LOVE COLE PORTER AAM Records Antonio Adolfo, piano/arranger/vocals; Lula Galvao, guitars; Jorge Helder, double bass; Rafael Barata, drums/percussion; Dada Costa, percussion; Jesse Sadoc, trumpet/flugelhorn; Danilo Sinna, alto saxophone; Marcelo Martins, tenor & soprano saxophones/flute; Rafael Rocha, trombone. Since childhood, Antonio Adolfo says that the music of Cole Porter has been the soundtrack of […]

The Bobby Broom Organ-Sation Jamalot Steele This year’s reviews from yours truly are not as heavily populated with organ trios as in years past but this throwback album by Bobby Broom’s Organ-Sation may well compensate in spades. These are live performances from 2014-2019 of familiar pop songs and standards, in the tradition of his once […]

JIHYE LEE ORCHESTRA INFINITE CONNECTIONS Motema Music Jihye Lee, composer/conductor; Adam Birnbaum, piano; Matt Clohesy, bass; Jared Schonig, drums; Keita Ogawa, percussion; Alex Goodman, guitar; Ben Kono, alto saxophone/piccolo/flute; Dave Pietro, alto saxophone/flute/alto flute; Jason Rigby & Jonathan Lawary, tenor saxophone/flute/clarinet; Carl Maraghi, baritone saxophone/bass clarinet; Brian Pareschi, Nathan Eklund, David Smith & Stuart Mack, […]

Nir Felder III la.reserve In a year when we’ve been blessed by so many terrific guitar records from the likes of Julian Lage, Bill Frisell, Gilad Hekselman, and others, we welcome back Nir Felder with his third solo release, III, now on a new label, the burgeoning la.reserve. The Katonah, NY native enlists mostly the […]

SEAN HONG WEI & JEREMY MONTEIRO THE NEW JERSEY SESSIONS Jazz Note Sean Hong Wei, tenor saxophone; Jeremy Monteiro, piano; Jay Anderson, bass; Evan Sherman, drums; Houston Person, tenor saxophone; Alex Sipiagin, trumpet. This hard-bop group opens with the Charlie Parker tune, “Dewey Square” showing that they love to ‘swing’ with as much power and […]

JOHN AMBROSINI SONGS FOR YOU Independent Label John Ambrosini, piano/vocals/keyboards/background vocals/arrangements/all piano solos; David Phelps, acoustic & electric guitars; Zachary Swansen, acoustic bass; Matt Miller, drums; Steve Finkelstein, percussion; Rich Lamb, keyboards. Randy Brecker, trumpet; Ada Rovatti & Joel Frahm, tenor saxophone; David Binney, alto saxophone; William Galison, harmonica; Brian King, vibraphone; Rich Lamb, string […]

PHIL RANELIN THE FOUND TAPES LIVE IN LOS ANGELES: 1978 – 1981 Org Music Phil Ranelin, trombone/composer; Billy Childs, piano; Tony Dumas, bass; Ralph Penland, drums. “When I moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to join Freddie Hubbard’s band, I thought I would be content playing with one of the greatest trumpeters ever.  However, after […]

Tony Romano Three Chord Monte TRM With a play on words, from Elvin Jones’s “Three Card Molly,” and the card game of a similar name, guitarist Tony Romano entitles his own solo jazz album, filled with original compositions, Three Chord Monte. Romano has spent most of his career as a sideman for vocalists but issued […]

LAUREN HENDERSON SOMBRAS Brontosaurus Records Lauren Henderson, vocals/composer/arranger/producer; Joel Ross, vibraphone; Sean Mason, piano; Jonathan Michel, bass; Joe Dyson, drums/percussion. Joe Dyson’s percussion licks open the first tune on Lauren Henderson’s new album as her smokey, seductive voice sings “Fuego.”  Henderson has added the vibraphone of Joel Ross to the mix and the instrument adds […]

JO HARROP THE PATH OF A TEAR Lateralize Records Jo Harrop, vocals/composer; Larry Klein, bass/producer; Anthony Wilson, guitar; Victor Indrizzo, drums/percussion; Jim Cox, piano/Fender Rhodes/Hammond B-3 organ; David Piltch, bass. Here is an artist that immediately snatched my attention with her very first song called “Beautiful Fools.”   What a great and unique title!  I grabbed […]

Jon Gordon 7th Ave. South ArtistShare Having spent quite a bit of time in NYC in the early to mid-1980s, it’s certainly easy to relate to saxophonist and composer Jon Gordon’s salute to the mecca of jazz in the city at that time, 7th Ave. South. The street was lined with jazz clubs, the venerable […]

NICK FINZER LEGACY: A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF J.J. JOHNSON Outside in Music Nick Finzer, trombone; Renee Rosnes, piano; Rufus Reid, bass; Lewis Nash, drums. This latest CD released by trombonist, Nick Finzer is a tribute and centennial celebration to J.J. Johnson. Johnson is considered one of the most influential and pioneering trombonists in jazz history.  […]

Jason Robinson Ancestral Numbers 1 Playscape Recordings Saxophonist and composer Jason Robinson just released the first part of a comprehensive project tracing the roots and branches of his family tree on Ancestral Numbers 1 with the second part to follow in October. It’s an intriguing concept and one that’s rarely if ever been set to […]

Roger Kellaway Roger Kellaway Live At Mezzrow Cellar Music Group The renowned pianist, composer, and arranger Roger Kellaway mentions in the liners to his live album Roger Kellaway Live At Mezzrow something that makes the utmost sense but rarely mentioned, and at least here, rarely thought about. The pianist has, for the past twenty years, […]

Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp Magical Incantation Soul City Sounds Magical Incantation is astoundingly the nineteenth duo collaboration between Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp. The duo began in 1996 with the saxophonist’s Bendito of Santa Cruz. Obviously at this point in their collaborative tenure, they can anticipate the other’s moves like the […]

AMBER WEEKES A LADY WITH A SONG CELEBRATES NANCY WILSON Amber Inn Records  Amber Weekes, vocals; Russell Malone, Andrew Synowiec, Gregory Cook & Paul Jackson Jr., guitar; Tony Campodonico, acoustic & Fender Rhodes piano; Andy Langham, piano; John B. Williams, Carlos Puerto & Jeff Littleton, bass; Fritz Wise, Donald Barrett & Oscar Seaton, drums/percussion; Joey […]

COUNTERMEASURE ORCHESTRAL SESSIONS Independent Label VOCALS: Gianna Antonacci, Nina Brown, Elora Burns, Icarus Devdas, J-M Erlendson, Marla Kishimoto, Qwyn Alexis, Tara Park, Hayley Preziosi, Daniel Boyle, Jeremy Voltz and Aaron Jensen, composer/arranger/lyricist; Charles Cozens, orchestrator/conductor of the Burlington New Millennium Orchestra. An Internationally acclaimed Canadian 12-member vocal group called Countermeasure has released their fourth studio […]

BOB ANDERSON LIVE! Jazz Hang Records Bob Anderson, vocals/composer; Vince Falcone, piano; Joe Lano, guitar. Orchestra In 2015, VHI voted Bob Anderson the #1 celebrity vocal impersonator in the world.  This is an honor that People magazine also crowned him with, and Tony Bennett proclaimed, “He does me really well … He does everybody well! […]

Jack Walrath Live at Smalls Cellar Music Group Trumpeter, composer, and arranger Jack Walrath joins the legends in the SmallsLive Living Masters Series, leading his long-running conventional jazz quintet in this live gig. This is a group that Walrath has been leading since 2010 – Abraham Burton on tenor saxophone, George Burton on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass, and Donald Edwards on […]

ELENA GILLIAM SHALL WE DANCE Meta Jax Elena Gilliam, vocals; Rob Whitlock, & Michael LeVan, piano; George Gilliam, guitar; Miles Jensen, Nylon string guitar; Lyman Medeiros, bass; Alex Bailey, drums; Ginger Murphy, cello; Sarpay Ozcagatay, flute; Tony Guerrero, fluegelhorn/trumpet/arranger; Arturo Sandoval, trumpet; BUDAPEST SCORING ORCHESTRA: Zoltan Pad, conductor; Balint Sapszon, Orchestra manager. Elena Gilliam has […]