Gene Ess: Absurdist Theater
The beautiful, soaring coloratura that Thana Alexa indulges in at the start of Absurdist Theater by Gene Ess is all the time you’ll be...
The Debut Album of Mitch Shiner and the BloomingTones Big Band: Fly!
As soon as I played the first track on Mr. Shiner and the BloomingTones Big Band ´s debut album, I was astonished by the...
Joey Alexander Presents: Countdown
Once more, Joey Alexander puts all of his debonair virtuosity on display, on Countdown, only his second album. The quality of his playing is...
Kate McGarry – Girl Talk
Kate McGarry has that kind of voice which has a whispering tremolo at the end of some of the lines she sings that makes...
Vanessa Perea: Soulful Days
Vanessa Perea might have a particular flair for the theatrical. This is suggested by the manner of her phrasing. Ms. Perea is able to...
Joe Lovano & the Brussels Jazz Orchestra: Wild Beauty
It is just like tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano to make a beautiful recording, but also one which is also quite full of surprises. This...
Carlos Averhoff Jr.: iRESI
This recording is one of the most visceral and heartfelt that Carlos Averhoff Jr. may have made. You would think that its audacity had something to do with making a leap of faith into an unknown...
Clare Fischer Big Band: Pacific Jazz
It might not be expedient to suggest that Clare Fischer is responsible defining what Big Bands should sound like. Duke Ellington did that. Nor...
Kevin Harris Project – Museum Vol. 1
Credit must go where it is due. Kevin Harris is a pianist who is not merely satisfied by playing a set repertoire on the...
Avishai Cohen Trio: From Darkness
Like Duende that came a few years before it, nothing illustrates the mastery of bassist Avishai Cohen better than From Darkness...
Thana Alexa: Ode To Heroes
There is something enchanting about the vocalastic melismas of this album that open it up to a wider circle of listeners that simply want...
Brampton Global Jazz & Blues Fest Report – Part II
Brampton, a city north west of Toronto played host to its second annual jazz and blues festival this past August 9th through to the...
Coltrane Re-Imagined: Rova’s Electric Ascension
Twelve “12" innovative master-musicians in a one-time euphoric incarnation of John Coltrane’s mighty Ascension, to be filmed for posterity at Guelph Jazz Festival...
Ralph Peterson, Zaccai Curtis, Luques Curtis: Triangular III
When the Curtis Brothers take a break from business to make music together something magical always happens. On Triangular III they complete a trio...
Steve Turre: Spiritman
There are few recordings to wait for with greater anticipation than one by trombonist and seashellist Steve Turre. This extraordinary musician bestrides two disparate...
The Louis Romanos Quartet´ Jazz Delight
With “Songo 7”, the first song of this album, you realize the tremendous talent Mr. Romanos and his band have for playing with heart...
Stacey Kent: The Changing Lights
There are few vocalists who can sing with such fragrant lyricism as Stacey Kent. The fact that she can sing in several languages—and make...
Berta Moreno: Little Steps
Berta Moreno’s dream of coming to America, which she mentions in her impassioned notes that accompany the disc entitled Little Steps, have come true...
Abdullah Ibrahim – Hymns of Freedom
Abdullah Ibrahim has not performed in Canada or North America for at least ten years so on this rare occasion, a premier event for the Guelph Jazz Festival it presented festival goers with a very special opportunity to witness...
Still, the New Work of the Brilliant John Funkhouser
This disciplined and wonderful pianist and bass player brings us another tremendous recording project. This is an eight-piece album where Mr. Funkhouser...
