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Ricardo Silveira goes Solo

6/12/2021

Although Ricardo Silveira has been recording albums since 1984's Bom De Tocar (Good to Touch), this present album Solo is his first solo guitar recording. Ricardo has appeared on many albums in support of great artists. It was the pandemic that cut a giant hole in Ricardo's busy schedule and allowed him time to record this, his first solo album.

Of the 11 tracks on the album, six of them are originals from Silveira himself. While each of those six songs are from previous albums, they are reimagined here for solo guitar and the difference is all the difference. The soaring emotion of the solo guitar is beautiful and masterful.

Two of the cover pieces are from Antonio Carlos Jobim (Luiza and Zingaro, part of a medley with Chico Buarque’s Retrato em Branco e Preto). Jobim always works for solo guitar and Silveira proves the point. But it’s not just the great Jobim, Silveira offers splendid renditions of Rodgers & Hart’s My Romance with its soft and lovely melody and the languid and luxurious approach to Johnny Alf’s Eu e Brisa.

Preciso Aprender A Ser Só by Marcus Valle is a gorgeous version and the guitar gives a whole different feel and modd than the piano and/orchestra.

Silveira’s originals, however, are what truly reveal the heart of the artist. That Day in Tahiti is a special standout with its colorful imagery and touching reminiscences. The same can be said of Rio Texas, the album’s opener, with its acoustic Texas twang offset by the delicate touches.

Ricardo Silveira’s Solo has everything you want—from Brazilian and Latin Jazz references to straight-ahead Jazz. This is not ambient background music but music to be heard and ingested and savored, over and over again.

~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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Jeremy Monteiro Live at No Black Tie

6/10/2021

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There are few things in life sweeter than the Jazz trio, especially live recordings of those trios. Then get three major players in that trio and things happen—all good things.

Pianist Jeremy Monteiro has teamed with New York heavy-hitters Jay Anderson on bass and drummer Lewis Nash for a night of exceptional Jazz in Kuala Lumpur with Live at No Black Tie.

Five of the nine tracks were written or co-written by Monteiro but even the four covers are so brilliantly reinvented that they become Monteiro’s own before all is said and done.

Take, for example, the album’s opener. It is Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way but the Brubeck melody must wait until the trio have made their own introduction to the night and the song. The song is, of course, beautiful but, when the Brubeck melody has been played out, the trio offers their own breakaways and things go from sweet to swaggering. And I mean that in a good way. The interplay between all three artists is remarkable and sets the stage from a fantastic evening of great Jazz.

Jules Styne’s Just in Time is another classic that the trio uses as a springboard into delicious solos and dialogues. Once again, the interaction and syzygy amongst these artists are worth the listen. Monteiro handles the melodies and Anderson and Nash anchors the rhythms and provide melody of their own in this terrific live set. Duke Ellington’s Prelude to a Kiss again sees the trio develop widely from the original.

Beginning with the fourth track, the trio takes on Jeremy Monteiro’s originals and the fun really starts. Mode for Love (for James Moody) kicks off the originals just right. Pay attention to Lewis Nash’s understated by spot-on drumming. But then, Nash is always that way. Monteiro serves up the choice piano runs. Yeah, this is what we came for.

Josefina is dedicated to Monteiro’s wife. The piece is emotional and lovely. Jay Anderson gives a sweet and soulful bass solo largely based on the themes set forth by Monteiro. This is good stuff. That depth of emotion is also present in Life Goes On, an original dedicated to Monteiro’s father who has passed away only shortly before. In both pieces, Monteiro displays his profound scope of emotion.

If you’re looking for good Gospel Jazz (is there any bad Gospel Jazz?), Mount Olive is reminiscent of a church visited by Monteiro at the insistence of his friends Eldee young and Redd Holt, to whom the song is dedicated. This one gets repeated plays.

Anytime you see “Monk” in the title of a Jazz song, you expect a reference to Thelonious Monk. Not so fast here, Jazzer. It’s about a man who renounced everything to live as a Buddhist hermit. The cool times and tempos are excellent and the work from Nash and Anderson are in great dialogue with Monteiro.

The trio wraps up with Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man. What a way to close a concert and an album. The melody is unmistakable and the groove is second-to-none. The trio leaves it all out on the stage with this one. Anderson and Nash are on fire and Monteiro builds on Herbie and gives it his own flair and flavor.

Live at No Black Tie is a great introduction to Jeremy Monteiro if you have heard his numerous previous albums. Having jay Anderson and Lewis Nash with him in the trio before a great audience in Kuala Lumpur makes for a great live trio album.
I wish I could have been there.

~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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Francesco Amenta takes a "Midtown Walk"

6/5/2021

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Midtown Walk is Francesco Amenta's second album as a leader. Seven out of the eight tracks are composed by Amenta himself with the final track, Come Sunday, from the pen of Duke Ellington. He included the Ellington piece for no other reason than the love of Ellington.

With Amenta’s tenor saxophone are Cyrus Chestnut on piano, Kimon Karoutzos on bass, and Gary Kerzekou on drums. The compositions and arrangements are fascinating and entertaining and the performance by all involved is simply great Jazz.

The music is personal and beautiful. Dancing was written for his wife, a dancer herself. It is a steady and rhythmic description of the visuals of watching a dancer. From the start, Amenta’s tenor sax is rich and engaging. Also personal is Home, a walk down the streets of Amenta’s adopted home New York City.

Songs like Number 9 is a McCoy Tyner-inspired piece that gives everyone in the band a chance to show their chops and these fellas know how to bring it! That follows Bunch of Time with its funky lines and cool bass solo intro.

Burgundy 45 is a tribute to American music in all its forms from Blues to Swing to traditional Jazz and they all work. The album concludes with Ellington’s Come Sunday. It is beautiful and textured with lush contributions all around.

Midtown Walk is a timely and meaningful work of art. Francesco Amenta plays like a seasoned Jazzman and the trio behind him are exemplary. The album is a thing of beauty and a welcome feast for the ears and the mind. Can’t get enough.

~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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Jacqui Naylor plays "the Long Game"

6/5/2021

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In The Long Game, her 11th album, Jacqui Naylor has included original compositions as well as much loved classics. Her compositional skills are, of course, tailor-made for her rich locals. The covers where chosen from fan ballots from her performances. This is a strategy she is used for the last four albums.

The title track and indeed the title of the album comes from one of Naylor’s philosophical go-to themes: “Keep going, stay hopeful and enjoy your life. If you continue to make positive efforts, happiness is sure to emerge. We have to play it a life for the long game, never give up, and when in life and in love.”

Those words are essential to life during COVID-19 and the political divisions and hatreds of our time. Jacqui brings a message of hope, even optimism, and she makes her point with soulful elegance and ease. With musical artists like Jon Evans on bass, Art Khu (Jacqui’s husband) on piano, organ, and guitar, and Josh Jones on drums and percussion, the Naylor artistry is secure.

There are incredible arrangements of David’s Bowie’s Space Oddity, which Jacqui renders so emotionally and skillfully, and Peter Gabriel’s wonderful Don’t Give Up which she offers as more encouragement than Gabriel’s near-tragic original. Kurt Weill’s Speak Low is turned into a Latin toe-tapper that she handles effortlessly. Give a second listen and pay attention to the instrumentalists. These guys smoke.

One of my favorite songs in the world is Charlie Chaplin’s Smile. With a warm bass introduction from Evans, Jacqui again creates something more effervescent than the versions that have gone before. Khu’s piano solo goes a long way to enhancing that.

Then there are the originals, co-written and arranged by Art Khu, Love Look What You’ve Done (not to be confused with the Boz Scaggs song of similar name) is about finally falling in love after life’s long game. The song was especially poignant and apropos for me, having not found the love of my life until I was 55 years old. Well worth the wait and well-reflected in this song.

Jacqui goes from Jazzy to Soulful to Funky and beyond. The trio accompanying her are more than equal to the task of interpreting her musical moods and deftly switching with them. The Long Game is the soundtrack of a life well-spent and a description of the love and drive it takes to see it through.

~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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"All Without Words" Gives Voice to the Voiceless

6/5/2021

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John Daversa releases his latest CD, All Without Words: Variations Inspired by Loren. The compositions are by John's lifelong friend and collaborator Justin Morell. Daversa has a way of taking challenges and making them an opportunity for personal and familial reflection and grace. A I wrote regarding his 2020 CD Cuarantena, “the pandemic of 2020 has cut off people from each other. Travel, dining, concerts and so much more have been disrupted in ways that the 21st Century never imagined. For John Daversa, it became an occasion for self-investigation and for the meaning of interaction with those we love and admire.”

Now, in all without words, Justin Morell was asked to write a large-scale orchestral jazz piece. Morell's son, named Loren, face challenges with communication from a tender age. By the time the child was three years old, he had lost all ability to speak. Morell took the opportunity to write about the bond of love between a parent and child, a love that is unchangeable and eternal. Morell wrote of the difficulties, the challenges, the successes, and especially the affectionate and tender moments in raising a non-verbal son. The story is about love breaking through barriers.

John Daversa has taken that mood and that music and has beautifully given voice to Loren through his eloquent and radiant trumpet. The music is emotional and profound and only the coldest of hearts cannot be moved by it.

Morell explained the music by saying, “the theme on which 11 variations are based is built around the spontaneous vocalizations of my nonverbal son, Loren. 1 evening, I sat with him and listened to the singing and sounds that he often makes, recording them on my phone. I quickly returned to the recordings and transcribed two different segments of beautiful melody. The theme as arranged in this piece features these two phrases slow down, played by the trumpet, and accompanied by the orchestra. In each variation, I use elements of the theme to reflect on my life with my son, the struggles of learning how to connect with the child who has difficulty with the most basic aspects of communication, and the triumph of even the smaller successes. What began as a mission to celebrate neurodiversity became an opportunity for me to connect with my son and hear his voice in a way I had not before. The music is born of intense emotion, sometimes painful and sometimes joyful, and a hope for a compassionate future where all people are loved and respected for their humanity.”

Given that foreknowledge, listen to All Without Words over and over again. The results of the Daversa/Morell collaboration are incredible—I would even say miraculous.

Justin Morell is not only the composer, arranger, and orchestrator of the album, he also adds his guitars to the recording. Morell is an excellent guitarist and it shows on the album.

The titles of the songs are telling: Searching But Never Finding, Seeing It Again for the First Time, The Urgency of Every Moment, The Smallest Thing, A Day is Forever—Like Any Other, and Learning Simply to Be. The final track is titled It’s Enough to Be Here, Now.

All of this should be enough to make you want to hear this work of Love and Grace and Beauty. If not, then I don’t even want to know you.

~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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Lauren White - Ever Since the World Ended

6/5/2021

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Ever Since the World Ended is Lauren White’s latest album, described as “shifting emotional landscapes to reflect our new reality.” Just like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Boccaccio’s Decameron were reflective of the Plague in Europe in the 1300s, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a backdrop for creative artistic forces in our time. Ever Since the World Ended is Lauren White’s reflection on the trials of our time.

Lauren is a remarkable vocalist with an intuition for what we need to hear and when we need to hear it. That was certainly the case with her 2016 album Out of the Past: Jazz and Noir. If possible, it is even truer today thank it was five years ago.

The Quinn Johnson Trio are the backing musicians for Ever Since the World Ended with Quinn Johnson on piano, Trey Henry on bass and Ray Brinker on drums with several guest artists, including Grant Geissman, making appearances on Remembering the Rain. The wonderful Dolores Scozzesi joins Lauren on vocals for the title track.

For Quinn Johnson, this is the fourth album made with Lauren and he produced and arranged the album, as well as playing the piano. This is also album number four for Trey Henry and Lauren. For Lauren, the importance of finding healing in music among friends is inestimable.

And the music tells the tale.

The power and emotion of the tracklist is palpable. From Bill Withers’ Just the Two of Us to Bill Evans’ Remembering the Rain to Jimmy Webb’s Shattered, the impact of our times is reflected and even deflected in the performances of Lauren and the Trio.

The Trio is astounding and Johnson’s arrangements are spectacular. Alone Together is especially moving and Duke Ellington’s Take Love Easy alleviates the recurring melancholy. Shattered is perhaps the most impactful song with its recollections of time and people lost during this period of the pandemic.

Ever Since the World Ended is an incredible album, as are all of Lauren White’s recordings. The emotion is heightened by the virtuosity and the grief is eased by the beauty of the music.

~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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Forward>>

Ricardo Silveira goes Solo

Jeremy Monteiro Live at No Black Tie

Francesco Amenta takes a "Midtown Walk"

Jacqui Naylor plays "the Long Game"

"All Without Words" Gives Voice to the Voiceless

Lauren White - Ever Since the World Ended

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