By Hector Aviles, Latino Music Cafe The Pacific Mambo Orchestra (PMO) started nearly 10 years ago, did a crowdfunding project for their first recording in 2012, and with it won a Grammy in 2014. Now, they’re back with their second studio recording; “The III Side“. This band is based in the Bay Area, and continues … Read More
By Ron Forman, Cabaret Scenes Catherine Russell is one of the truly wonderful jazz singers of our time. Add her all-star band consisting of Mark Munisteri (guitar), Mark Shane (piano), Tal Ronen (bass), Mark McLean (drums), Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet), Evan Arntzen (reeds), and John Allred (trombone), and you have the recipe for a memorable 90-minute … Read More
By Bill Buckley, Soul And Funk And Jazz RICHIE GOODS is an acclaimed US jazz bassist with an impressive list of credits. He’s played with people like Milt Jackson, Ruseel Malone, Brian McKnight, Walter Beasley, Sting, Whitney Houston and the Manhattan Transfer. More recently he was on the bassist’s stool for Robin McKelle’s ‘Alterations’ album … Read More
By Jim Hynes, Making a Scene! Pianist, composer and educator Sam Hirsh makes his debut as a bandleader with Quite Frankly, recorded to celebrate the pianist’s thirtieth birthday and tenth year as a staple musician in the jazz scene in Los Angeles. Joined by a bicoastal cadre of world-class improvisers, Hirsh introduces a set of original tunes inspired … Read More
By Rob Lester, Broadway World When I Googled “Catherine Russell” on my computer for the photo you see here, while trying to decide how to begin this review of her current Birdland blast of joy, my answer popped up, thanks to technology. I had only typed her first name when the “auto-complete” feature that presents … Read More
By Piotr Pillardy, Red Hook Star – Revue Much in the same way as the madeleines that Proust wrote about so many years ago would involuntarily conjure memories from a single bite, hearing video game melodies takes me back to the safety of my childhood living room floor, to hours spent cross-legged, lost in digital … Read More
by Jim Hynes, Making A Scene Alterations is jazz vocalist/composer Robin McKelle’s follow-up to her 2018 Melodic Canvas which we covered on these pages. While that was mostly an album of originals, McKelle chooses here to, as she says, “fuse jazz, soul, r&b, blues and rock while keeping continuity in the music.” These are mostly familiar songs from … Read More
By Troy Dostert, All About Jazz Straight outta St. Petersburg, Rainy Days Records has done a splendid job of documenting some of the strongest emerging voices in Russian jazz, starting with drummer Sasha Mashin‘s superb Outsidethebox in 2018. Mashin’s debut release belied his youth with an assured poise and dynamic vision, and here we have yet another wonderful … Read More
By Rob Lester, Talkin’ Broadway CATHERINE RUSSELL ALONE TOGETHER Dot Time Records “Authentic” is the adjective that best describes singer Catherine Russell’s ownership of old jazz and blues. Another Grammy nomination and her February residency at Birdland in Manhattan is a cue to bring focus now to her latest recording, one which was singled out … Read More
By Ron Schepper, Textura Thinkin’ Big’s the name of the twenty-piece band from Chicago that performs Jonah Francese’s material on its sophomore album Reclamation. It could, however, apply equally well to the social issues addressed by individuals of varying ethnicities and gender identities on the nineteen-track project. Said topics arise forcefully in the form of … Read More
