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[MoreWatts]

The 10th Tuesday 25, albums from a quarter-century ago, 1998.

Saxophonist David Sanchez’ Obsesion was Grammy nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album. Allmusic: “ Sanchez utilizes a medium-size band augmented by woodwinds and a few strings. The tunes have heated Cuban rhythms intermingling with Brazilian-type melodies and American jazz solos… This is a well-paced set that stays in one's memory long after the CD has ended.”

This was his 4th of 9 albums from 1994-2019. His 2019 album Carib, also Grammy nominated, was recommended upthread.

Previously (link to upthread). Grammy Best Album for: Instrumental, Herbie Hancock Gershwin’s World; Big Band, Count Basie Orch. Count Plays Duke; Latin, Arturo Sandoval Hot House. And: Joanne Brackeen Pink Elephant Magic; Don Sebesky I Remember Bill; Erik Truffaz The Dawn; Phil Woods The Rev And I; Charlie Mariano An American In Italy; Joshua Redman Timeless Tales…

David Sanchez, Obsesion, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[MoreWatts]

The ‘East-West Trumpet Summit’ is trumpeters Ray Vega from NYC and Thomas Marriott from Seattle. Both have played with Latin Jazz masters such as Tito Puente. Appropriately, their 4th release, since 2010, is titled Coast To Coast. Orrin Evans on piano, Michael Glynn on bass, and Roy McCurdy on drums (age 86, Cannonball’s drummer, played on Sonny Meets Hawk!) complete the band.

AllAboutJazz: “While both have that deep taproot into the same language, their individual voices stand out loud and clear on this very satisfying session. There is familiarity in the sound of the band, a trust rarely achieved. In choosing players they see as family, the music bears the sound of love and fellowship.”

Orrin Evans ‘Captain Black Big Band’ Grammy nominated 2018 album Presence was recommended upthread. The 1963 album Sonny Meets Hawk!, with Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins, was also recommended upthread.

Ray Vega & Thomas Marriott, Coast To Coast, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[MoreWatts]

Jane Bunnett is a Canadian soprano saxophonist who has explored Cuban jazz since the late ‘80s, and earned 4 Grammy nominations in the process. Since ~2014, she often fronts her all-female, mainly Cuban, band ‘Maqueque’, who recently released their 4th album, Playing With Fire.

Americanahighways: “Celebrating the band’s 10th anniversary these 10 new tracks are all excellently recorded & captured with stirring individuality. Arrangements are tight yet there are times they play with amazing fluidity. No matter what element they add it always comes up with sparks. The album features not only women from Cuba but also from the Dominican Republic, Latin America, Spain & Lebanon. World music indeed.”

Jane Bunnett & Maqueque, Playing With Fire, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Angsty]

I'm a jazz fan but not an expert. Thanks for posting your insights on recordings I may check out.

 

[MoreWatts]

Jazzviews: “Their debut album, Volumes I & II, by Sharp Little Bones, with tenor Tony Kofi, is a collection of original songs that… bristle with energy and a certain amount of daring; it’s a daring born of surety and delight in their music.”

This is Kofi’s ~7th album since 2004, as part of the London jazz scene. The Bones are: Simon Paterson (bass); Paul Deats (keys) and Andrew Wood (drums). 1 hour 20 minutes of nice sax quartet. The video is Tony with harp and percussion in a home show.

Sharp Little Bones with Tony Kofi, Volumes I & II, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[MoreWatts]

Allmusic.com led me to albums by bassist Jaco Pastorius (1951-'87), of 'Weather Report' fame, that are new to me.

Allmusic: “Jaco Pastorius' recording sessions with drummer Brian Melvin resulted in 4 studio and 1 live release. This body of work is unique in that it not only takes the electric bassist out of his New York element but also represents a focused, reinvigorated Pastorius... The instrumental Jazz Street, one of Pastorius' last studio dates, places him in a west coast pop-jazz climate and he comes through with flying colors. His playing is clear and vibrant."

Guitarist Paul Mousavi, keyboardist Jon Davis and Rick Smith on sax help. Ranges from straight jazz to classic fusion. Released in 1989.

Allmusic: “Brian Melvin's Night Food (1985), is their only collaboration released while Pastorius was still alive. It is Melvin's sharpest, tightest playing, perhaps his finest work. Pastorius is wonderfully relentless with his fluidity and speed, tossing in a few familiar riffs, just enough to tease, while Brian lets loose with precision contact, in perfect sync with Pastorius… Night Food is a mostly instrumental, rocking, jazz fusion affair; nothing light here; a must for fans of Pastorius, Melvin, and the genre.”

Guitarist Paul Mousavi, saxophonist Rick Smith, steel drummer Andy Narell, organist Merl Saunders and abuncha other folk join. There are acoupla melodic Jaco tunes too.

Jaco Pastorius & Brian Melvin, Jazz Street, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

Brian Melvin, Night Food, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[MoreWatts]

Here’s another post for Friday 50, albums from 50 years ago, or 1973.

Allmusic: “The early work of alto saxophonist and composer Grover Washington, Jr. is a rare and beautiful thing to behold… Soul Box has Creed Taylor's production enhanced by a symphony orchestra and full-blown jazz band arranged and conducted by Bob James. Some of the session men include bassist Ron Carter, drummer Billy Cobham, guitarist Eric Gale, drummer Idris Muhammad, percussionist Airto, and keyboardist Richard Tee… Soul Box is a modern classic for its instrumental and arrangement invention and for its deeply emotional bounty.”

This was the 3rd of his 25 albums, from 1972-99. This was a double-album, over an hour of Grover’s finest. His 1988 album Then And Now was recommended upthread.

Grover Washington, Jr., Soul Box, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

Previously (links to upthread): Dave Brubeck We’re All Together Again...; Gato Barbieri Bolivia; Elvin Jones Mr. Jones; Donald Byrd Black Byrd; Dave Liebman First Visit; Don Ellis Soaring.

 

[TonyJZX]

i go thru this thread and i'm truly truly out of my depth here.... I only know a few of this artists in passing

and i came across the guy here who said "I quite like Diana Krall" and I literally let out a gut laugh... I dont like Diana Krall all that much... these guys here all like Charles Mingus and David Brubeck.

I dont mind Diana Krall but I kind of dont like her interpretation of a lot of music. Like out of her past catalog I can pick one of three tracks I kind of like out of every album but there always seems to me that there's someone's version I like better.

anyway... Amir introduced us to some music at his Pacific Audio wrap up...

one artist I quite liked right away is

now I know this is very commericial grade kind of radio friendly jazz, i get that

i know there's a slew of women torch singers who do this kind of stuff but i like her a LOT more than Diana Krall

 

[DarrylG]

 

[MoreWatts]

MoreWatts Top Ten Jazz Albums For The First Half Of 2023​

Now that 2023 is half-way, time to list a few favorites of recommended new releases. These are reedy, brassy and, well, boisterous. Title links to upthread post.

Lakecia Benjamin, Phoenix

Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets, Pan Africa

Heavy Hitters, Heavy Hitters (no post): YouTube link ; Spotify link

Diego Rivera, Love And Peace

Chembo Corniel Quintet, Artistas, Musicos y Poetas

Felipe Salles, Home Is Here

Mthunzi Mvubu, The 1st Gospel

Roy McGrath, Menjunje

Steve Fidyk Live Wire Broad Band, Red Beats

Israel Tanenbaum & The Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble, Impressions

This list was not easy to make from the ~50 new album recommendations upthread. Jazz music is doing fine. Now if we could just get some people to hear it (~0.8 % of music streams).

Streaming allows a fan to actually stay abreast of favorite music. About 150 new albums were given a listen for this list (hooray for retirement). I bought quite a few CDs in my time, but not 300 a year. This age of music accessibility is a wonder indeed.

Suggestion. If you don’t have Spotify to use my playlist below, make a Tidal/Quboz/Amazon/Apple/Deezer/etc list of these 2023 album recommendations, and shuffle play the songs. You’ll possibly be surprised at how often you check “Who is this?,” in a good way.

 

[MoreWatts]

My collection Mondays (CD) does not have to mean the blues. Here’s The Bill Holman Band with Hommage, from 2007, which earned a Grammy nomination.

Allmusic: “Bill Holman has long been one of jazz's most inventive and creative arrangers. On Hommage, most of which was recorded live at a West Coast jazz festival, he pays tribute to Woody Herman…and revitalizes 3 other standards. Key soloists include tenor Pete Christlieb and altoist Lanny Morgan -- but the dense, exciting, and thoroughly unpredictable arrangements are the real stars. Highly recommended.”

Holman won 3 Grammys for compositions and arrangements, contributed to 7 more winners, and was nominated for 11 more. He only released ~11 big band albums from 1954-’07, because he instead composed/arranged albums for, well, everyone.

Pete Christlieb sax duet albums with Warne Marsh were recommended upthread, as was an upthread big band album.

Bill Holman Band, Hommage, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[MoreWatts]

Tuesday 25, albums from a quarter-century ago, 1998, continues. Here's a big band, instrumental, Sinatra tribute. Happy 247th birthday to the USA!

Allmusic: “As tributes to Old Blue Eyes go, Patrick Williams's Sinatraland ranks among the most enjoyable. Williams, the composer and arranger of countless television and movie soundtracks, has gathered together some of the most gifted musicians available to form an orchestra that brilliantly sparkles on his arrangements of 12 Frank Sinatra classics… What this band does best, of course, is swing with a capital "S." Driven by a stunning rhythm section, the horns lay out that famous Sinatra swagger just like in days of old.”

See the cover shot for the list of star performers. The album earned a Grammy nomination. Williams scored >250 films and TV shows, won 4 Emmys, 2 Grammys with 16 more nominations, and earned an Oscar nomination in a career that spanned from the 1960s-2018. He released ~8 big band albums that weren't soundtracks.

Patrick Williams, Sinatraland, full album: Spotify link

Previously (link to upthread). Grammy Best Album for: Instrumental, Herbie Hancock Gershwin’s World; Big Band, Count Basie Orch. Count Plays Duke; Latin, Arturo Sandoval Hot House. And: Joanne Brackeen Pink Elephant Magic; Don Sebesky I Remember Bill; Erik Truffaz The Dawn; Phil WoodsThe Rev And I; Charlie Mariano An American In Italy; Joshua Redman Timeless Tales…; David Sanchez Obesion.

 

[MoreWatts]

Doublin’ up on Tuesday 25, albums from 25 years ago, 1998.

Allmusic: “Saxophonist Eric Alexander pays tribute to jazz icon pianist Harold Mabern by featuring him on this recording with a sextet... Trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Jim Rotundi, bassist John Webber, and drummer George Fludas clearly have Blue Note and Riverside late-'50s jazz in their bones, and it seeps out of every swinging pore. Alexander’s sound is fleet, literate, and blues-drenched, and he hits every note with seeming perfection and deep knowledge.

You won't find a better modern mainstream jazz recording of the '90s than this one. It's a canidate for best jazz CD of 1998, a feather in Alexander's cap, and a musical triumph for Mabern.”

This was his ~9th of >50 albums since 1992. He played on the Heavy Hitters album that made the Top 10 list at the top of this page.

Eric Alexander, Mode For Mabes, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[MoreWatts]

Play some smokin' soul-funk-jazz to get the 4th of July BBQ started. Triple-header of Tuesday 25, albums from a quarter-century ago, 1998.

Allmusic: "Combining his smoking horn with trombonist Fred Wesley and son Corey’s intermittent raps, saxophonist Maceo Parker works through the familiar funk and soul lines of his Parliament and JB days and adds new twists… Though Maceo's original lyrical attempts may be a bit immature, his years of experience and hard work shine through with every brassy attack and smooth soul note.”

Hmm. James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Prince. If you’re gonna play sax in a band… With ~18 solo albums, 1st in '70, latest '20 Soul Food.

Maceo Parker, Funk Overload, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[MoreWatts]

AllAboutJazz: “Saxophonist Brian McCarthy… draws inspiration from the creation of the universe and solar system to craft AfterLife… These are grand ideas. McCarthy has latched onto them and created grand music… The blowing in the solo spots is inspired; the arrangements are majestic.”

This is Brian’s 4th album, since 2013. He is a professor at the University of Vermont, USA. He plays often with trumpeter Ray Vega, whose new album, Coast To Coast, was recommended upthread.

This takes off nicely after a slow-burn start. Please enjoy some little big band.

Brian McCarthy Nonet, AfterLife, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[MoreWatts]

Here’s the 1st 2 albums from a 26 year old. His new one is Letter To The Universe.

JazzWeekly: “West African trumpeter Peter Somuah brings a fragrant mix of jazz and equatorial soul on this release with Jesse Sohilderink/ts, Anton de Bruin/key, Marijn van de Ven/b, Jane Meljer/dr, Denny Rombout/perc, Thomas Nil Lantey/perc and various guest vocalists.”

His 2022 debut, Outer Space, won the Edison (Dutch Grammy - where he’s based), with the same band. This is Peter’s 2nd album. Bandcamp: “He explores the boundaries between jazz, funk, electronic music and traditional Ghanaian rhythms.” [Addendum: this new one was nominated for an Edison also. 2 outta 2. An auspicious career start. ]

Solid 1st two efforts. His idols Miles and Freddie would be proud.

Peter Somuah, Letter To The Universe, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

Peter Somuah, Outer Space, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[DarrylG]