By C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz “In the chemistry lab, solvents are said to be punctilious when they have been completely purified through filtering, distillation, and chromatography. Punctilious ether, if a sound, could be compared to the perfectly polished tone generated from lead crystal when struck with a platinum spoon. This is the level … Read More
By C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz The year 1959 was a watershed for jazz music. It saw the releases of Miles Davis‘Kind of Blue (Columbia); John Coltrane‘s Giant Steps (Atlantic ); Ornette Coleman‘sThe Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic); Charles Mingus‘ Mingus Ah Um (Inpulse!); and, of course, the Dave BrubeckQuartet’s Time Out (Columbia). … Read More
By C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz Russian-American singer Svetlana Shmulyian has blended an East Europe/Russia combination of elegant determination and delicate grit into the American Songbook on her debut recording Night at the Speakeasy (AO2 Records, 2016), and then film music on Night at the Movies (Starr Records, 2020). The artist surprised listeners by … Read More
C. Michael Bailey, All About The flute as the lead instrument in any jazz combo relies on an empathic and sensitive rhythm section that will not overpower the wind instrument’s delicate voice (Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson notwithstanding). Flautist Andrea Brachfeld happens upon a dandy rhythm section in pianist Bill O’Connell, bassist Harvie S and drummers Jason … Read More
By C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz Russian-American singer-composer Svetlana (she has a last name, Schmulyian, but prefers the monomoniker) is onto something. Her debut recording, Night at the Speakeasy(OA2 Records, 2016) with her self-appointed Delancey Five, was a structured affair which concentrated on the music of the “Jazz Age” (save for the Beach Boys’ … Read More
By C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz Vanessa Rubin The Dream is You: Vanessa Rubin sings Tadd Dameron Finally, a fitting tribute to the music of Tadd Dameron, with Vanessa Rubin‘s vocal adaptation of Dameron’s work as an added plus. The Cleveland native has distinguished herself as an impressive song stylist with a Midas touch … Read More
By C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz Holiday music is its own discrete industry. Each October and November sees an uptick in releases devoted to the Christmas Season. The repertoire is well established with a core of compositions derived from the Middle Ages to the present day, including both religious and folk and popular music. … Read More
By: C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz Ellen Rowe Octet Momentum: Portraits of Women in Motion Smokin’ Sleddog Records 2019 Pianist/composer Ellen Rowe’s recording Momentum: Portraits of Women in Motion is a concept recording similar to Miles Davis‘s Birth of the Cool sides recorded in the late ’40s. Both projects use “little big bands” whose … Read More
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz John Minnock Right Around the Corner Self Produced 2018 John Minnock brings a much needed extroverted edge to jazz vocals. Part of that edge is his progressive repertoire, which includes Grace Jones, Billy Joel, and Sam Smith. Another part of that edge is the exuberance with which he … Read More
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz Finally, a fitting tribute to the music of Tadd Dameron, with Vanessa Rubin‘s vocal adaptation of Dameron’s work as an added plus. The Cleveland native has distinguished herself as an impressive song stylist with a Midas touch for challenging material. Rubin has eight previous recordings. Interestingly, only Girl Talk (Telarc Records, 2001) … Read More
