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Entries from July 2013

Paul Marinaro: Without A Song

At first blush, Chicago singer Paul Marinaro’s debut recording, Without A Song, is a well-meaning vanity recording that turns out to be…well, well-meaning. That impression is forgivable only for those not living in the Chicago area. Further reading reveals that this recording had its genesis in some 78 rpm acetates Marinaro found of his father singing the m: Frank Sinatra hits of the day, that “day” being 1947.

Date: Jul 29th, 2013 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Dick Hyman and Ken Peplowski: …Live At The Kitano

If musical knowledge and taste were currency, pianist m: Dick Hyman and clarinetist m: Ken Peplowski would be two of the wealthiest men around. Hyman, an octogenarian legend with killer technique and near-unparalleled knowledge about virtually every style of jazz, and Peplowski, the witty woodwind wonder who stands tall as one of the clarinet kingpins on the scene today, make for a perfect match. Both men have deep respect for the tradition(s) of this music, but neither one looks at jazz as a museum piece; they both recognize that it’s a living and breathing art form that’s open to endless interpretation and variation, and they take full advantage of this fact here…

Date: Jul 28th, 2013 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Marc Ducret: Tower, Vol. 3

French guitarist Marc Ducret’s new sextet, known also as the Real Thing #3 band, was supposed to mark the end of his Tower cycle of compositions, now spread over four discs and at least five projects: a solo guitar, quartet, quintet and the as-yet- unrecorded 12-member e: Tower-Bridge orchestra. This project was initiated by Ducret in 2008 as an attempt to mirror a musical texture to a chapter from writer Vladimir Nabokov’s “Ada,” in which he weaves a whole labyrinth made of fragmented memories and correspondences, eventually building a form which in turn leads to his other books, themes and emotions…

Date: Jul 28th, 2013 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Mark Masters: Everything You Did

Bandleader/arranger m: Mark Masters has recorded a set of m: Steely Dan tunes with a big band, which can be set on the shelf next to his celebrated albums dedicated to the music of m: George Gershwin , m: Duke Ellington and m: Dewey Redman . A Dan jazz album makes sense.

Date: Jul 27th, 2013 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Oliver Jones: Just For My Lady

Pianist Oliver Jones has become something of a national treasure on the Canadian jazz scene over the past three decades. That’s all the more remarkable considering the fact that this soon-to-be eighty year old didn’t start making jazz recordings until he was in his 50s. In many respects, as his recording career has evolved, Jones has become the poster boy for the Justin Time imprint; he’s released about twenty records on this label over the past thirty years and, though most of those recordings have put his Oscar Peterson-esque chops and pianistic savoir-faire on display, none really tread over the exact same ground. Sure, he often favors the piano trio format, but he isn’t averse to trying something different

Date: Jul 27th, 2013 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Lorraine Feather: Attachments

Let’s get this out up front: Lorraine Feather is a collaborator extraordinaire. Now, taking that down a darker path and picturing black op sites, duct tape, and stubbly- faced bad cats, let’s spill: take a masterful wordsmith who’s also a sublime vocal talent, surround her with highly intelligent soundscapes and wrap with some of L.A.’s usual suspects, and the result is Attachments–a superbly crafted and marvelously performed initiative…

Date: Jul 27th, 2013 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

The Allman Brothers Band: Macon City Auditorium, Macon GA 2/11/72

The Allman Brothers Band’s new independent licensing agreement restores to the marketplace its most recent studio work including Hittin’ the Note (Sanctuary, 2003) and the live One Way Out, Sanctuary (Sanctuary, 2004), as well as all previously released archival recordings. Among the latter reissued titles is Macon City Auditorium, Macon GA 2/11/72, one of the very few appearances the group did as a five-piece unit following the death of founding member Duane Allman the previous autumn.

Date: Jul 27th, 2013 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews