JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Pianist Hector Martignon imay be from Colombia, but it is too easy to merely peg him as a Latin Jazz artist. For evidence, examine Foreign Affair.
The first track, Benitez Sez, is basically a funky jazz tune. The only evidence you would have that Martignon is Latin would be the powerful […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Still Warm is unique among John Scofield’s recordings in a number of ways. The overall tactile effect of Still Warm is like the rippling heat waves rising off freshly poured tar on a hot summer’s day. More so than usual, even for Scofield’s Grammavision recordings, the emphasis is firmly on groove. […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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There’s probably something I should make clear. When I put on a John Coltrane CD, what I’m listening for is a clarity of thought and a willingness to go deeper than you’d think was possible.
Coltrane had incredible stamina as a player and an inexhaustible well of inspiration. He could spin […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Hermeto’s debut album as a leader, Yogurt, was intriguing without a doubt, but it really doesn’t prepare you for the brilliance of his follow up, Slaves Mass.
The most striking composition is probably the title tune, which starts out with a rather strange form of percussion — Hermeto squeezing a pig like […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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The general critical consensus on Wayne Shorter is that he has been creatively fallow since his Weather Report days, and is only now beginnning to recapture the glory of his Blue Note years. That’s just nonsense. Critics simply weren’t able to follow Shorter’s innovations and were too lazy to put […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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It’s tough to call what Ralph Towner does jazz, since it has nothing to do with the blues, even tangentially. It kind of exists in it’s own category. One way to describe it is chamber music with improvisation.
Towner likes odd time signatures. For example, the song Distant Hills, which opens the […]

JAZZBO NOTE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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On a previous post, in which I reviewed Stone Alliance’s Live In Amsterdam, I wrote that the music felt incomplete, as if bassist Gene Perla was so busy outlining the chords and providing a groove that he couldn’t imply any outside harmonies for saxophonist Steve Grossman to play over.
I realize […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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There are a lot of things that make Monk a classic date.
Let’s start with the tunes. With the exception of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, they’re all written by Monk, and every last one is a gem.
For that matter, Monk’s rendition of Smoke Gets In […]

WORTH A LISTEN
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After disbanding Shakti, John McLaughlin took stock and reaffirmed his love for the electric guitar with John McLaughlin - Electric Guitarist, using a large roster of musicians he had worked with in the past to realize his disparate visions.
Truth to be told, it is not a triumphant return for the most […]

DON’T BOTHER
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On her debut recording, Another Mind, Hiromi impressed with her technical abilities, as well as her willingness to embrace a variety of musical approaches. Wild hair up the butt guitarist David Fiuczynski helped her to expand the sonic possibilities of her music considerably. There was enough going on throughout the record that Hiromi’s […]