Tag Archives: Jazz music

Yonglee & the Doltang’s Invisible Worker, and Michael Sarian’s Esquina

I think of myself as more of an acoustic jazz fan than anything, but I’m definitely a sucker for the jazz-rock fusion of my youth: Mahavishnu Orchestra, Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis, Return To Forever, Weather Report. Especially if it has … Continue reading

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Yves Brouqui’s Mean What You Say, and Brian Charette’s Borderless

I don’t think you’ll hear a better new album of straight ahead guitar jazz this year than Yves Brouqui’s Mean What You Say. Brouqui has been playing professionally since he began in Paris in 1986, and since a long stint … Continue reading

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Freddie Hubbard’s On Fire: Live From The Blue Morocco

I first discovered Freddie Hubbard in the mid-70s when he was playing slightly electrified jazz with a bit of soul and fusion and post-bop in the mix. Those recordings on CTI made me a fan, which I remain to this … Continue reading

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Kenny Dorham’s Blue Bossa In The Bronx: Live From The Blue Morocco

I haven’t heard much of jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham’s music, and you probably haven’t either. It’s a pity because as many of his peers noted, he was the definition of underrated. He also died tragically young at the age of … Continue reading

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Gary Smulyan’s Tadd’s All, Folks; and Alfie!’s The Songs of Burt Bacharach

Though not much remembered now but by musicians and aficionados, Tadd Dameron (1917 – 1965) was one of the most influential composers, arrangers and pianists of the era that bridged big band swing and bebop, the 1940s and ’50s. American … Continue reading

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Chet Baker’s When Sunny Gets Blue

Chet Baker had a busy, up-and-down career as a jazz trumpeter and singer, and perhaps remains best known today as the king of cool jazz. I’m a huge cool jazz fan but don’t have much Chet Baker in my collection. … Continue reading

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Aruán Ortiz Quartet’s Orbiting

I came upon this 2012 release just this year (2014), as Ortiz was embarking on a tour that included many U.S. stops. I find this music moving and challenging in equal measures. Ortiz, a native of Santiago, the second-largest city … Continue reading

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Kirk Knuffke’s Super Blonde, Steve Johns’s Mythology, David Janeway’s Forward Motion, and Alex Norris’s Table For Three

Somehow, this was my first knowing* exposure to the music of Kirk Knuffke, and it has rapidly become one of my current favorite albums. Super Blonde is a consistently engaging set of covers and standards played by a unique quartet … Continue reading

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Anders Jormin and Christian Jormin’s Provenance

On Provenance, the Jormin brothers, Anders on double bass and Christian on piano, drums and percussion, play an album of open, airy, sometimes wintry music that blends jazz, classical and folk idioms. The two are both well known in the … Continue reading

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Gisle Torvik’s Tranquil Fjord

Norwegian guitarist Gisle Torvik’s Tranquil Fjord is indeed for the most part tranquil, but like any Norwegian fjord it is also dramatic. Sometimes in small, subtle ways, sometimes in large, obvious ways. Torvik is a prolific young musician who doesn’t … Continue reading

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