By Tom Lucci, WICN Catherine Russell, Alone Together. Any Catherine Russell release makes my best of the year by default. Her vitality, care, humor, and chops on rarely performed tunes like “Shake Down the Stars” make A-List standards like “I Only Have Eyes for You” and the title track stand out all the more. Svetlana, … Read More
by Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News Natalie Cressman and Ian Faquini, “Setting Rays of Summer” (Cressman Music): San Francisco-reared New York trombonist/vocalist Natalie Cressman and Brazilian-born Berkeley guitarist/composer Ian Faquini sound more like a quartet then a duo on this ravishing set of originals songs inspired by Brazil’s omnivorously cosmopolitan popular music tradition.
From Ravi Coltrane to Freddy Cole, 2019′s best jazz performances in Chicago by Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune Greg Ward and Rogue Parade, Jan. 11 at the Green Mill Jazz Club Saxophonist Greg Ward, who presented a full-scale reimagining of Charles Mingus’ “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” in Millennium Park last summer, will play … Read More
A long list of 2019’s best Canadian jazz albums, plus even more honourable mentions By Peter Hum, The Ottawa Citizen North Carolina bassist and educator Steve Haines, an Ottawa native, released a beautiful orchestral album. Haines’ project featured the impeccable vocalist Becca Stevens singing a program that leaned heavily into Canadiana (think Gordon Lightfoot, Kim … Read More
by Glide Magazine Ben Flocks – Mask of the Muse (West Cliff) – This tenor saxophonist induced similar feelings to Charlie Parker with Strings from the ‘50s. That’s a certainly lofty company and there are no strings on this album but keyboards and guitar providing a similar ambiance in a tight quintet instead. It’s marvelously dreamy, romantic, and at times … Read More
By Troy Dostert, All About Jazz Gabriel Zucker Weighting ESP-Disk With Rachel Kushner’s whirlwind novel Flamethrowers for inspiration, pianist Zucker creates a compelling, mysterious world that is as beautiful as it is elusive. Moments of bracing intensity emerge, fueled by Tyshawn Sorey‘s percussive flurries and Zucker’s powerful flourishes; but it’s the two-horn team of … Read More
By Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz Steve Haines And The Third Floor Orchestra Justin Time Bassist Haines arranges a gorgeous suite of folk, pop and classical pieces for string orchestra that features solo work by Chad Eby on soprano saxophone, Joey Calderazzoon piano and Becca Stevens doing the finest singing of her career. Eric Hofbauer‘s … Read More
By Brian Kiwanuka, Nextbop 10. Brandee Younger – Soul Awakening (Self Release) The harp is a spellbinding instrument and throughout Soul Awakening Brandee Younger is a sorceress. The harpist’s playing is never anything other than gorgeous and she has extremely strong chemistry with Ravi Coltrane (tenor saxophone), who is featured on “Soulris” and “Lover’s Prayer”. … Read More
By Ron Schepper, Textura 01. Brandee Younger: Soul Awakening (Brandee Younger) An immensely satisfying portrait of harpist Brandee Younger, Soul Awakening sounds as fresh as if it were recorded yesterday, even if it was completed six years ago. It’s somewhat of a summative portrait, too, as it checks many of the critical boxes associated with … Read More
by Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz Eric Hofbauer‘s Five Agents Book Of Water Creative Nation Music Guitarist Hofbauer leads a spellbinding live recording where his spidery and intricate lines weave in and out of the bracing free-to-funk blowing of an able group of musicians. Steve Haines And The Third Floor Orchestra Justin Time Bassist Haines … Read More
