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Chasing Horizons by Russ Hewitt

9/30/2022

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Guitarist extraordinaire Russ Hewitt has released Chasing Horizons which he describes as “a rhythmic fusion of Samba, Montuno, Milonga, Rumba, Guajira, and 5/4, 9/8, and 7/8 grooves with a touch of exotic modes like Dorian #4 and Lydian.” In other words, this is the dream album for those who love Afro-Latin grooves and exquisite guitar. Chasing Horizons has it all.

It is also the fourth album from Hewitt and was four years in the making. It is worth the wait.

With Hewitt are a remarkable cast of artists including Nuno Bettencourt, Marty Friedman, Jorge Strunz, and Ardeshir Farah on guitars, Bob Parr on bass and keyboards, Walfredo Reyes, Jr. on drums, Tri Nguyen on Vietnamese Zither, Rafael Padilla and Efren Guzman on percussion, and the strings from the Bucharest All-Star Orchestra. Parr, Padilla and Reyes have been on every Hewitt recording. These guys are telepathically linked. And it shows.

Each of the ten songs on Chasing Horizons were composed by Hewitt with some arranging by Bob Parr who also produced, mixed, and mastered the recording. The recording itself is a brilliant work of control room finesse.

The album opens with Allende, described by Hewitt as a Rumba Flamenco. It is Hewitt’s guitar with percussion and the tonality and texture of Hewitt’s playing is gorgeous. There are few things more enjoyable that hearing folk or indigenous forms (like flamenco) adapted into Jazz. Hewitt makes that case, right from the start.

The touch of sadness makes one wonder if Allende is referencing that awful human rights disaster in Allende, Mexico over a decade ago. It is a powerful piece of melancholic beauty. From the start, it is clear that Hewitt is a virtuoso guitarist and a masterful composer.

The title track, Chasing Horizons, features Nuno Bettencourt on the first guitar solo. Hewitt’s ego allows for the presence and participation of other guitar greats and Bettencourt makes a marvelous contribution. When the smoke clears, the pairing of Bettencourt and Hewitt is a thing of beauty. The textures within the 7/8 groove are melodic, even lyrical, and driven smartly by the cool rhythms.

Speaking of cool rhythms, Vivir Libre (Live Free), features the Montuno beat and the amazing skills of Marty Friedman. The Montuno beat is a classic Cuban rhythm, usually set within the Rumba, that mixes African and Spanish music. Thus, Afro-Cuban. Marty Friedman takes on two solos (the 2nd and 4th) and Hewitt works his magic in the other solos. There are exquisite moments of duet between the two and it is indeed the compulsion to live free.

Amor Perdido (Lost Love) features the Bucharest All-Star Orchestra with the lovely string background to Hewitt’s lonely guitar. The song is played in the Milonga style. Milonga is an Argentine term referring to a guitar (usually) rhythm that is slow and is actually considered a precursor to the Tango. The chords and changes are reminiscent of the work that Erik Satie (1866-1925) composed for the piano. This is a work of singular beauty.

Luminous is Hewitt with the core band of Parr, Guzman, and Reyes. The title is a fine descriptor of the whole feel of the song. It is indeed luminous. This is where Hewitt employs the Lydian mode that he promised. The construction of the song is so well done with those eloquent guitar phrases and passages. Listen a second time and pay attention to the great percussion movements behind the guitar.

Sunset Samba is exactly what it says it is—a Samba. It features Jorge Strunz in melody and in the 2nd solo. Samba is a 20th century musical style that developed out of Brasil. I’ve never heard a Samba I didn’t like and Hewitt’s Sunset Samba proves the point. This is joyous music that can make the worst day somehow better. And just listen to the incredible runs that Hewitt inserts. Breathtaking.

Then comes Luna. This may be my favorite song on this already remarkable album. Cast in the Dorian #4 mode, it is a lovely, lovely Jazz nocturne and belongs next to Debussy or Beethoven’s odes to the moon. I’m not kidding. The splendid beauty of the piece and the performance defy description. The six-note motif repeats and then keeps repeating in your head.

Ardeshir Farah is featured on Cubalia Café, taking the 2nd solo and verses. It is adapted from the Guajira style. Guajira is an old Spanish style that has been infused into flamenco and gained great popularity in 1930s Cuba. The rhythm section kicks off the song and sets the hook for Hewitt’s guitar. The back and forth between Farah and Hewitt is marvelous. Yeah, your body involuntary begins to sway as you get deeper into the song.

Serein is the mist that falls from a clear sky. The sweet 5/4 groove makes for a warm and sweet image. This can best be described as a tone poem, casting images of that mysterious dew from heaven. Cooling and calming, the delicious music is exactly that. Again, Hewitt’s intonations are brilliant and meticulous in their precision and their phrasing. A wonderful song.

The album closes with Return to Simitai. The intricate 9/8 rhythm is intoxicating and the dan trahn (Vietnamese Zither) of Tri Nguyen is intriguing. The dan trahn has a curved top plate and a flat bottom with strings stretched across the top plate. According to Vietnamese scholars, it represents the curved heavens and flat earth. Set off against Hewitt’s guitar, it makes for a mesmerizing duet. The melodic lines are rapturous and the rhythm section holds down the odd meter beautifully. What a haunting melody to close the album. And what an album.

Russ Hewitt’s Chasing Horizons is a work of rare wonder. With odd meters and Afro-Cuban and Brasilian beats, Hewitt has crafted an album that satisfies on all levels, from the intellectual to the emotional and beyond. This is one of the best albums of the year…any year.

I have paid this album my highest compliment. I transferred it to my car stereo which only holds five albums in memory.
 
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                     ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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Leticia Walker is Lit from Within

9/29/2022

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Leticia Walker says, “All music is gift from God. Flavors and textures are abundant in music. It is like a banquet for your ears and a symphony for your soul…I created this project with the intent to do a Jazz/Gospel Fusion CD. Like any good recipe, it’s in there and a whole lot more.”

Good Lord…she’s not kidding around. This album, Lit from Within, has everything you want. Talk about a banquet!

Leticia has reason to celebrate in faith and gratitude. She suffered a physical setback, leaving her hemiplegic—unable to speak—for quite some time. Enter Steve Jankowski who went to work with Leticia on her Transitions project. He has written and arranged most all of the horn sections. He also adds his considerable horn-playing talents to the album.

Aaron Graves added his piano skills and arrangements. Steve Beskrone added his bass talents and Leon Jordan contributed his masterful drum skills. Richard Rucker is the virtuosic guitarist and Deb Lyons added her vocals in duet with Leticia. Doug DeHays is the multi-talented horn and flute performer.

The 11 tracks on the album are drawn from many sources with all of their influences, from Luther Vandross to Bruce Springsteen to Harold Arlen. Leticia has taken them all and shaped them into the Jazz-Gospel she promised us without fail.

One of the finest moments on the album is that duet with Deb Lyons on the mash-up of Happy Days and Get Happy. This is one of the most wonderful vocal performances of the year.

Throughout the album the horns are enough to make Gabriel start practicing more. The backing vocals are warm and inspiring. Graves’ piano work is at home in the Church and the Club.

But then there is Leticia. She is an inspiration in herself but her message and her delivery are absolutely wonderful. I wish we had sung like this when I was a kid in church.

Leticia Walker’s Lit from Within is performed with the power of praise. The gratitude is wondrous and the sincerity of her message is overwhelming. The band means it as much as she does. This album is truly another testament.
 
             ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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David Larsen’s G2 and You

9/27/2022

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David Larsen is a saxophonist and composer who holds advanced degrees and received his PhD from Washington State University. His studies are concentrating on the music of Gerry Mulligan. It was those studies that led to his album, The Mulligan Chronicles in 2021. He followed that with Deviate from Standards later in the same year.

Now he releases the double EP G2 and You and Bright Days on the G2 label. The two EPs combine to form an eight-song album. And once more, there is nothing quite so cool as hearing David Larsen play that baritone saxophone.

G2 and You is an excellent mixture of originals and standards, playing well by Denny McCollim on keyboards, Josh Skinner on bass, and Brendan McMurphy on drums. All three of those were on 2021’s Deviate from Standards and it should come as no surprise to see them here, as well. These four have an understanding of each other’s playing and vision that makes them reach beyond themselves. Indeed, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

The album opens with Angel Eyes by Matt Dennis, introduced in the 1953 movie, Jennifer. The song has been covered and reinterpreted by dozens of artists from Nat King Cole to Frank Sinatra to Joe Lavano. Ella Fitzgerald recorded it four times and dubbed it her favorite song. Larsen and Company have given the song their own take and it is splendid. I can’t get enough. Dave Brubeck’s 1956 standard In Your Own Sweet Way is another triumph for the quartet. The covers are brilliant and Larsen always take special ownership of these classics.

The same thing happens with Joseph Kosma’s Autumn Leaves and Johnny Mercer’s Come Rain or Come Shine. While the songs are immediately recognizable, Larsen and the fellas give them a turn that is something special and extraordinary.

But then there are the Larsen originals that just set your heart in motion. Another Porter Please is one sweet tune as Larsen turns in the smoothest baritone sax you could ever hope to hear. The intonations are warm and relaxed and the band is right on it. The same goes for Latin Silver. That Latin rhythm and the percussive playing of McCollim’s electric piano is just how we like it. This could be my favorite track on the album.

Larsen’s Bright Days is an electrifying number that is wonderfully delivered by the piano, bass, and drums underneath Larsen’s baritone. The cool electric piano solo is so fine and the rhythm section keeps everything in the groove. The album concludes with Larsen’s Through and Through. It is warm and lyrical, a song of delight and joy.  It is the longest track of the album and thank goodness for it. I wanted this to just keep going. The acoustic piano sets marvelously with the bass and drums and McCollim’s solo is so satisfying. This is a thing of great beauty.
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David Larsen’s G2 and You is a brilliant exposition of Larsen’s reinvention of Jazz standards and a journey into his own compositions, both of which reveal his artistry and skill and, above all, the heart of the man. This is music for the emotional and the intelligent.
 
 
                 ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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Jeremy Green's Standing Eight

9/27/2022

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Jeremy Green has enjoyed an almost lifelong career as a guitarist, beginning in small clubs across southern Canada at the age of 15 years old. He has since become a fixture in the Toronto music scene. Standing Eight is Green’s full-length debut album.

Green is heavily influenced by Jazz-Funk Fusion and he owns it. His blog at jeremygreenguitar.com/blog is an excellent foray into guitar theory. It’s worth the visit.

Standing Eight is an eight-song recording of Green’s originals. To really make things pop, he brings along the likes of Victor Wooten, Jimmy Haslip, Robben Ford, Mike Stern, and so many more. Each contributor adds their unique voices to the well-crafted and exciting songs written by Green.

The album opens with the tightly grooving Jackets Required. The song features Mike Stern on guitar, the inimitable Jimmy Haslip on bass, and Keith Carlock on drums. This is the way to open an album. The guitar chops are relentless and Haslip, as always, creates beautiful bass lines and solos marvelously.

Ain’t No Chevy sees Robben Ford on guitar, Will Lee on bass, Keith Carlock on drums, and Mark Levron on some blistering trumpet work. Lee and Carlock create that Funk-groove that can curdle fresh milk. Lively and fiery. Green himself repeatedly shows why Toronto loves him. The man can play. The mighty Victor Wooten’s bass joins for Michael & Me with Chris Baird on saxophone. Green has written as eloquently and powerfully for the bass as for the lead guitar. And Baird’s sax gets great lines in his features. Carlock has brilliant drum passages. So well written and so well executed. As my grandmother used to say, “This mother smokes!”

The Land of Oz features Oz Noy on guitar and Rich Brown on bass. This is the funk heard ‘round the world. The rhythm section anchors the piece so well and Noy works well with Green on guitar. Green has a master’s touch, to be sure, and he uses it flawlessly. The trio of Green, Tim Lefebvre on bass, and Carlock, then tear into Big Shoes with its grinding introduction. The sound has a cool hook before Green’s cool lead. The Carlock drums are as tight and flashing as ever and sets up some monster distortion work from Green. Lefebvre holds down the groove while the song ascends and transcends. Good God, ya’ll. Another trio of Green, Billy Sheehan on bass, and Carlock then grooves into Mr. Beast. The title describes everything you need to know.

You have to love the title Close with the Jab in reference to the album’s title. Michel Cusson joins on guitar with Moto Fukishima’s bass and the ever-present Carlock on drums. A cool groove opens the song before the intricate Funk and crunchy guitar. Fukishima’s beautiful tonal bass is a great feature, worthy of close attention.

The album closes with Car Rock. What a great descriptor for the song that makes you want to put the top down and drive down any coastal highway, like I drove down Florida’s A1A when I was a teenager. Oz Noy is back on guitar with Ian DaSouza on bass, and—you guessed it—Carlock on drums. And let just say that it is clear why Carlock in on each and every song. He pairs so well with every bassist and offers the propulsion that serves the groove so well. Green knows how to write and he definitely knows how to play.
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Jeremy Green’s Standing Eight is aptly named because the listener is definitely staggered. The grooves are hard and the guitars are blistering. Please, sir, may we have some more?
 
 
                               ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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Henry Godfrey Jazz Orchestra's Attitude & Gratitude

9/27/2022

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Henry Godfrey is a hard-swinging music graduate from Berklee School of Music and New England Conservatory of Music, the latter in 2020. In that same year, Godfrey released his debut album, Love Finds Everyone, to great acclaim. Now he releases Attitude & Gratitude and it shows an evolutionary, if not quantum, leap forward in his compositions and his performance as a drummer. And he is a remarkable drummer.

The compositions are great examples of the bone-crushing funk that we love so much. All that within the context of a rich Jazz heritage from which Godfrey draws heavily and relentlessly. Godfrey wrote each song on the album.

The core band is, of course, Godfrey on drums, Mike Keingstein, Matt Kelly, Eli Block, and Zoe Murphy on trumpets, Aaron Dutton, Alex Ramirez, Ian Buss, Anton Derevyanko, and Nicolas Suchecki on saxophones, Joey Dies, Jasmine Sloan, and Sam Margolis on trombones, and Michael Juba Prentky on bass trombone and tuba. Then there is Pritesh Walia on guitar, Rowan Barcham on piano, and Anna Abondolo on bass. These artists turn it in and turn us on.

The five incredible tracks on the album are of extended length and make plenty of room for the players to get their solos and to give us a fully developed sense of the pieces themselves.  They swing, they groove, they make your hair stand on end.

The album opens with For McCoy and it pays great honor to the legendary McCoy Tyner, showing the influences of McCoy’s signature approaches. Pianist Rowan Barcham has the wondrous task of applying the Tyner touches and he nails it beautifully. The guitarist Pritesh Walia gives us an extraordinary solo that is worth replaying over and over. Listen for Anna Abondolo’s understated bass and the thunderous touches she offers. An excellent start to an excellent album.

Mad Max is the recollection of Washington DC’s go-go music. DC is where Godfrey honed his gigging chops and he brings it all to bear here. Nicholas Suchecki gives some cool sax soloing.That baritone sax is a wonder. Eli Block’s trumpet solo is a fun one, too. The 12:54 length of the track gives room for extended soloing. Then comes Godfrey. His solo is a fascinating turn that is set up throughout the song.

Forgetting What Will Never Be is a life lesson to anyone who has loved deeply and lost it. The palpable melancholy is enhanced by Joey Dies’ warm but sad trombone solo, weaving in and out of the brilliant horns. It is an ever-progressing story and Anna Abondolo’s bass solo adds depth to the tale. The percussion sets up the bolero-mambo feel to the song, actually making the song sadder, especially with Dies’ trombone closing. Wonderful.

Hot Water is a tip of the hat to Godfrey’s days as a chef at a Boston udon restaurant. Hot Water was the nickname given him there. That hot water sensation is displayed with the hard-swinging approach to this tune that imagines hot water coming to boil. Jasmine Sloane’s excellent trombone solo is terrific. Then Anton Derevyanko adds his tenor sax for his own amazing solo. The lower horns carry on a motif that sticks with you. This is a brilliantly written work and it is played exceptionally.

The album closes with We’ll Get There. The drums and alto saxophone pair up to open the song. This is a magnificent introduction. The song is inspired by the determination for our communities to get through the pandemic but it also resonates individually. A longer piece, it also creates space for free expression from the horns’ chant. Matt Kelly’s trumpet is featured in a virtuosic solo. But wait for Godfrey’s solo on the drums before the brilliant fade-out of the song.
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Henry Godfrey Jazz Orchestra’s Attitude & Gratitude is full of both. The aggression, the sensitivity, the determination provide all the attitude you could hope for. The results for the listener is gratitude.
 
 
                     ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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Introducing the Scott Silbert Big Band: Jump Children

9/27/2022

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Scott Silbert is a multi-woodwind player and arranger extraordinaire. He was principal arranger for the United States Navy Band, retiring in 2017. Now he performs and arranges for the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and is a bandleader for his own small and big band ensembles.

Introducing the Scott Silbert Big Band: Jump Children is his debut as bandleader and returns some of the lesser-known big band works of the 1930s-40s-50s. There is also a Silbert original, Tootsie’s Rag, along with the other 14 covers.

The band has excellent artists performing Silbert’s arrangements and single composition. With Scott Silbert on tenor sax are Charlie Young and Antonio Parker on alto saxes, Grant Langford on tenor sax, and Leigh Pilzer (who performs with the Diva Jazz Orchestra) on baritone sax. The trumpets are Liesl Whitaker (also with the Diva Jazz Orchestra), Joshua Kauffman, and Chris Walker and the trombones are Dave Perkel, Jen Krupa, and Kristen Warfield. The rhythm section is Tony Nalker on piano, Craig Gildner on guitar, the amazing Amy Shook on bass, and Ken Kimery on drums. Vocals are by Gretchen Midgley and Scott Silbert.

What is even more extraordinary is that this band had only one rehearsal together before going into the seven-hours-ling recording session. These artists are amazing.

The album is loaded with songs that are nowhere considered standards but considering they were recorded by Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Chick Webb, and more, Silbert reiterates the music in his own way. It nowhere sounds dated or anachronistic. This is a big band who can breathe life into old songs that should be heard again. Silbert proves why this is so.

Gretchen Midgley is wonderful in her delivery of the vocals in songs like Jump Children and 11:60 PM. Then Silbert adds his own vocals for I Want a Roof (Over My Head) and he is remarkable. This guy has all the skills.

The 15 songs are all worthy of attention but there a few that stand out. In a Persian Market may be the oldest song on the album, composed around 1929. It has a touch of the Benny Goodman Sing, Sing, Sing in the drums and that is always fun. The arrangement is something remarkable and the performance is brilliant.

Silbert’s original, Tootsie Roll, sounds like it belongs alongside these much older songs. The Tony Nalker piano and Silbert’s own tenor sax trades are then taken over by the trumpet of Liesl Whitaker. This song was made for fun for all the players.

The sweet and smooth Dusk was famously recorded by Duke Ellington. Again, Nalker’s piano offers a sweet introduction for the mellow horn passages. But they can also romp with the best of them in songs like Chloe. Silbert’s tenor sax is a marvel.

The album closes with Edgar Sampson’s 1933 hit Stompin’ at the Savoy. Here’s a song we all know and love, especially after the Silbert treatment. It is a stomp, to be sure.
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Introducing the Scott Silbert Big Band: Jump Children is a blast from start to finish. The right performing artists with the right arranger is always a winning combination and this album has both in abundance.
 
 
~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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Radha Botofasina’s Carry On: The Spirituals, Vol. 2

9/25/2022

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Radha Botofasina draws richly and deeply from her Cuban and Southern heritage and it all shows on her release, Carry On: The Spirituals, Vol 2. Her mother’s side of the family, from Alabama, was the musical side of the family and impacted on her to the degree that she began piano lessons at the age of five. Then came vocal studies and mentorships from the marvelous Mary Lou Williams and Alice Coltrane. It doesn’t get any better than that.

She developed her skills at piano, organ, synthesizer, harp, and her wonderful voice. She is a world-class touring artist and, on Carry On: Vol 2, she focuses on the vocals and the harp. With a brilliant array of artists in support, she just nails the vocal power found withing this grand collection of Gospels and Spirituals.

The band is anchored around Gemi Taylor is on guitar, John Barnes is on synthesizers, the McCrary Sisters provide some of the backing vocals, Cecil McBee and Jeffrey Connors are on electric bass, Munyungo Jackson is on percussion, along with so many other backing vocalists and instrumentalists, all worthy of note. Their contributions are absolutely fitting.

The songs are traditional Gospel/Spiritual songs that we knew growing up in church, especially the Southern Church. The songs range from defiance of temptation and evil with Satan We Gonna Tear Your Kingdom Down and the courage to mean it when we say the Lord’s Prayer’s “And deliver us from the evil one.” Gemi Taylor’s guitar work is subtle but in lock step with Radha’s harp. That confidence is echoes in I Know the Lord Laid His Hands on Me, with the rollicking piano work of John Lehman and cool, cool viola of Alma Cielo.

The Gospel piano opens Woman at the Well and the vocals of Radha and the backing vocals are swinging and soulful. You have to love the intonation of the backing singers behind Radha’s marvelous lead vocals. The comes My Soul Gonna Shine with some of the most soulful horns ever with baritone saxophones, tubas, and trombone. This very well may be the anchor piece of the whole album and is splendidly followed by Going Back with Jesus. This one, opened with that great piano of Lehman, is heavy on strings and percussion and it works. And through it all, Radha’s voice shine above, below, and through the excellent instrumental artistry of the fine musicians with her. It is the answered prayer that delivers through it all.

Mary Don’t You Weep
is about Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, who wept over the death of Lazarus. It is a song of promise and hope. Just like Pharoah’s army all got drowned, history shows that prayers do get answered and deliverance does come. It is accompanied by a sweet and soulful swing and Radha is just marvelous. Mind on Jesus/God is God follows with the same confidence but in a slower ballad that is accompanied by Rod Hines on piano. It is powerful and confident, even strident, perhaps. Hines stays on piano for Move On Up a Little Higher. Caleb Buchanan is on upright bass and teams with Cecil McBee Jr on electric bass. A narration from Oran Coltrane concludes the song with a fade of the last passage of the Lord’s Prayer. Hold on for the sweet ride.

The album concludes with Radha’s original, Carry On. Gemi Taylor returns to the guitar with John Barnes on the keyboards and all of the backing singers. The song is introduced by Ethiopian women chanting as they sort Arabica coffee beans. Then comes the powerful lyrics from Radha.
        Faith was their might
       And the sacred secret of life
       Help them to carry on.
Radha ends with faith and power, the power of faith. This was my favorite song of the whole album.

Radha Botofasina’s Carry On: The Spirituals, Vol. 2 is a work of great faith and courage. The music, the lyrics, the emotion, all form a transcendent exaltation of trusting beyond ourselves and of finding meaning amidst absurdity. Maybe it does not work for everyone but it works for me.
 
                          ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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Jim Dedrick's Findings

9/24/2022

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John Dedrick is getting around in the Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New Jersey Jazz scenes. With the release of his latest album, Findings, Dedrick showcases his own compositions with a trio that belongs together.

With Dedrick on bass are composer and keyboardist Tom Reyes, and drummer Chuck Ferrell. But it is Dedrick who composes all the songs on Findings, with co-writing credit to Tom Reyes on one of the tracks. The compositions carry whiffs of Chick Corea, Thelonious Monk, and even Bill Evans. And the trio makes it all come to life. Dedrick, Reyes, and Ferrell are excellent together.

The album’s title, Findings, is a testament to the unfolding nature of the music, a discovering of the music while it is being played. That is an excellent approach and it pays off well. Dedrick says it this way: “I wanted the project to be free from traditional musical guidelines. Musicians simply stated their musical thoughts as they pleased. My intent was to open up space for all three musicians to collaborate, interact, communicate, and serve the music.”

As guitarist and educator extraordinaire Jay “Bird” Koder always instructs, “Make space in your playing. Think about what you want to play…then don’t.” That dictum is obviously well-followed by this trio. It was helped by the trio all recording in one room, allowing for that special telepathy found among the great trios of modern Jazz. It also resulted in mostly first takes being used on the recording.

The album opens with Kelly. The lyrical piano of Reyes introduces the tune with the brushes of Ferrell and the bass of Dedrick joining in. It is a rather languid affair that paints a lovely picture. Only to be followed by the melancholic Lugubrious, as sad as the title would indicate. Dedrick drifts into a gorgeous bass passage that is both sad and reflective. A marvelous piece.

Then Spontaneous Blues takes a more upbeat and bluesy turn with some of the coolest chords that Reyes’ piano can muster. In fact, Reyes co-wrote the song with Dedrick. And the description of spontaneous is right on the money. Some of the breakaway passages from drums and bass are mesmerizing and lovely. I wish I had been in the studio with them. And Tension only doubles down on that feeling. It slows down into a determined, even strident, interaction that is rife with creative tension that is honed by the bass and drums. The piano brings the light and life into the matter and is spectacular against the percussion. The bass lead is excellent towards the close of the song.

Bullfrog Burp is a light-hearted romp with the trio keeping it upbeat and easy. Piano, bass, and drums get in some excellent solo licks with a whole lotta trading going on. The melodic line is memorable and catchy. The following tune, Demon, is a threatening tune with its diversionary approach to the melody and the rhythm. The chords and time changes are, indeed, haunting…but in a good way. Even with its diabolical name, it is a charming and fascinating piece of music.

The album concludes with Rough Waters. The final track opens with a bouncing bass line and is followed by a terrific hook. The interjection of the drums at just the right spots are brilliant. All three artists just nail each and every passage and they do it with precision and aplomb. This is an excellent conclusion to an excellent album.
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Jim Dedrick’s Findings is a wonderful addition to that amazing canon of Jazz’ trio format. The original compositions are excellent and the improvisations and contributions of each member of the trio is memorable and remarkable. May we have many, many more such musical expeditions from these three artists.
 
 
                        ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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Troy Roberts' Nu-Jive: Nations United

9/19/2022

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Having won several musical awards, including two Grammy nominations, along with nearly 50 recordings as a side man, Troy Roberts has released twelves album as a leader plus teaming up with Tim Jago for the 2021 release, Best Buddies. Roberts now releases his fourteenth with Nu-Jive: Nations United.

With Roberts and his saxophone on Nations United are Tim Jago on guitar, Silvano Monasterios on piano and keyboards, Eric England on bass, and David Chiverton on drums.These guys have been with Roberts since 2011, at least.  Roberts composed all of ten songs on the album and he has proven his development as composer and performing artist. Roberts is a brilliant sax player and the guys with him are of the same artistic caliber. This is an excellent band.

The hard-grooving Funkafarian opens the album in a fine way. Then the drive surrenders to the Rastafarian Reggae of Bob Marley and Desmond Dekker. Who can forget Dekker’s 1969 hit Israelites? It was the first Reggae I ever heard as a kid. I was only 11 years old but I was hooked. Now Roberts works through some of those familiar-sounding riffs and gives us a song that offers brilliant work from Roberts on sax and Monasterios on keyboards. Listen for the dueling of Roberts and England’s bass. The final section morphs into a Gospel passage that is a fine pairing with anything Reggae.

Tribes & Tribulations is a well-intentioned and emphatic look at the struggles of cultures in both Australia with the Aboriginal people and the US with Native Americans and African Americans. The music is astonishing with wonderful contributions from Monasterios and, of course, Roberts himself who proves his artistic finesse and power all over again. With each new album, Roberts just gets better and, more than that, deeper into himself—a treasure trove of personal and artistic profundity.

Mind Melder starts as a slow and savvy Soul groove. Roberts must have been thinking of Vulcans when he wrote this because the band is definitely operating telepathically. The groove continues throughout but the drive ascends to new heights in the sweet vamp of the piano and sax. But Chiverton adds a sweet drum lead. This guy is spot-on. The construction of the piece is remarkable. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It gets followed by Linger and, if the improv sounds familiar, it comes from a motif on Roberts’ 2020 album, Stuff I Heard (an album I highly recommend). This is riotously good fun with the whole band working the improvisation. Roberts is on fire with this one and Monasterios offers some erratic and emphatic keyboards.

Big Night In is a phrase coined during the isolation of the COVID-19 days—the opposite of a “big night out.” A home-alone dance party sets the scene for the cool music that follows. Monasterios’ piano solo is so fine and Roberts adds gorgeous and lyrical sax work. But wait for the merengue section with Monasterios and his exciting piano leads. That gets a tight groove with England and Chiverton anchoring the rhythm section—all setting up Roberts extraordinary saxophone.

Sobrino (Spanish for Nephew) follows after and is introduced by a slow-paced, almost ambient, keyboard with the steady and deliberate beat of the drum. England joins in with great, effects-tilted, bass lines. The play between Jago’s guitar and England’s bass is mesmerizing. Again, if it sounds familiar, it is an adaptation of a passage from Mono Stereos from 2013’s Nu-Jive 5. Yeah, you want to get that one, too. Then there’s Big Daddy Ghetto-Rig, a tribute to “the sixth member of the band” recording engineer Dana Salminen. The story around the song is Salminen’s rescue of the mixing board after a crash during the recording of Nu Jive 5. The recorded jam session was developed into a longer piece to great results. The current track is another tribute to the new father with all of the band members going between each other with great improvisation.

Five Nations may remind you of Roberts’ and Jago’s duetting on Best Buddies from 2021. The remarkable dialogue between the two is a joy to hear. The title is referencing the five nations of the Mohawk Confederation of the early 1700s. The peaceful interaction and cooperation of that confederation is reflected in the beauty of the music and cohesion of the band.

Hypnogogia is that moment of twilight between waking and sleeping. Roberts’ saxophone and Chiverton’s drums set up the episode that follows in Dreamstation. In Dreamstation, the fragmentation of the parts occurs as the sax and drums anchor the groove before being joined by the rest of the band. Jago’s guitar adds brilliant parts but listen to that bone-crushing groove that England and Chiverton lay down. It is enough to induce lucid dreaming as Roberts and Jago break away into their own melodic phrases. Roberts moves us to conclusion with a blistering saxophone solo. Then, nearing the end of the dream, the groove slows down. Not only an excellent end to the song but to the entire album.

Troy Roberts’ Nu-Jive: Nations United is yet another example of his craft and character in Jazz. His transparency in composition and his straight-ahead performance artistry are landmarks of 21st Century Jazz. His leadership is splendid and his choice of band members is without flaw. Nations United is a jewel in his crown and a joy to our ears.
 
                        ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

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The Shape of Strings: Reinventions, Serenades, Divertimentos by Wayne Alpern

9/16/2022

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Wayne Alpern is an astonishing and prolific composer. In 2021 and 2022, he released Jukebox and Frankenstein followed by Secular Rituals and, now, with The Shape of Strings: Reinventions, Serenades, Divertimentos. With so much of Alpern’s work recorded for Midi, solo piano, and trio, this is not his first recording for strings. He has previously released String Quartets and String Orchestra. Being familiar with those last two titles, the arrival of The Shape of Strings: Reinventions, Serenades, Divertimentos is exciting news and fills the Alpern listener with great anticipation. And it does not disappoint. Alpern is one of the most extraordinary composers of our time. This album proves that.

The performance is by the String Orchestra of New York City with Monica Bauchwitz, concertmaster. The first violins with Bauchwitz are Lauren Cauley-Kalal and Regi Papa. The second violins are Sarah Whitney, Arthur Moeller, and Kristi Helberg. The violas are Miranda Sielaff and Margaret Dyer. The cellos are Jing Li and Caleb van der Swaagh and Logan Coale is the lone bass. They are remarkable.

Alpern describes himself by saying, “I have no abstract aesthetics to air, no singular sounds to share, and no practiced philosophy to preach. I embrace the mythology of no school or system, and lack too much the faith of any following. In fact, I have no compositional ideology at all—yet that I firmly believe…Originality is authenticity; the genuine is more precious than the great.”

It is those revelations of self-analysis that make Alpern the masterful artist and composer that he is. He is bound by no school and constrained by no approach. All of that makes Wayne Alpern honest with himself, making him true to his listener. Wayne Alpern is the Truth.

The Shape of Strings: Reinventions, Serenades, Divertimentos opens with three reinventions. Musical reinvention may mean the surrender of collaborators and creative approaches that got you where you are and Alpern has certainly done that. In music, the invention is a short two-part counterpoint. Alpern has certainly reinvented that here.

Reinvention 1 is an excellent introduction to this album with lovely and lively passages punctuated with pizzicato and spiccato. The melody is invigorating and more than a little emotional.

Reinvention 2 opens in a spacious and, perhaps, melancholy way with the first violins soaring high above the sustained notes of the rest of the orchestra. It is a gorgeous melody, full of light and beauty. Reinvention 2 creates a vast soundscape of tone and hue that evokes thought and memory in ways that only music can. The enchanting conclusion is fascinating.

Reinvention 3 is an excellent composition of conversations between the string sections with warm intonations from the violas and cellos. It is not something that any of the classical composers could have written—they were too constricted by their own styles and forms. Alpern is free to speak his mind and, while he may offer a reminiscence of something from Beethoven or Mendelssohn, he speaks his own unique mind. The expressive intonation of the orchestra is mesmerizing. A lovely, lovely piece of music.

The Serenades follow. While serenades are typically light and tranquil pieces of music, Alpern again speaks with his own voice. Serenade 1 is neither light nor tranquil but is, rather, stirring and powerful. The piece is very brief but extremely throaty.

Serenade 2 opens with a dark and moving passage with the cellos and double bass creating a deep undercurrent upon which the violins and violas create swirling eddies of their own. A calm and coolness arises from the violins and violas that is positively rapturous. The uniform crescendo at the conclusion surrenders back to the tranquil at the very end.

Serenade 3 sounds like a day in the forest with chirping birds and sweet breezes through the leaves of the trees. The cellos threaten and the violins escape from the clutches of the bass tones. This is a tone poem as much as a serenade.

The album closes with three divertimenti, pieces that are meant to amuse, according to the definition of the Italian phrase. Divertimento 1 follows exactly that. The piece is light-hearted and is conversational between the cellos and violins. The bowing of the cellos at the end is humorous and delightful.

Divertimento 2 is romantic and emotional. The violas deliver some of the warmest moments of the introductory passages. The orchestra glides into delightful phrases and intonations that are wonderfully intertwined before moving into the middle section of deliberate contrasts. The gorgeous closing section is intoxicating.

Divertimento 3 closes the album in a lively and energetic way. The ostinato of the cellos is answered by the violins and violas straightforward voices. The ostinato takes over the piece and takes it to conclusion. This was intriguing and pleasing at the same time.

Christopher Parkening once wrote: “Excellence is internal – seeking satisfaction in having done your best.  Success is external – how you have done in comparison to others… Success engenders a fantasy and a compulsive groping for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Excellence brings us down to reality with a deep gratitude for the promise of joy when we do our best.  Excellence cultivates principles, character, and integrity.  Success may be cheap, and you can take shortcuts to get there.  You will pay the full price for excellence; it is never discounted. Excellence will always cost you everything, but it is the most lasting and rewarding ideal.” While Alpern has gained great success, it came because of his excellence.
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Wayne Alpern’s The Shape of Strings: Reinventions, Serenades, Divertimentos is a work of great integrity and creativity. Even though we have come to expect the wonderful from him, he still has the capacity to surprise is with his brilliance and heart. While he may claim no religion or philosophy, listening to The Shape of Strings: Reinventions, Serenades, Divertimentos reveals that maybe God speaks through Wayne Alpern.
 
                            ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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