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22
Album Review

Joe Santa Maria: Echo Deep

Read "Echo Deep" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


In the liner notes, L.A.-based multi-woodwind specialist Joe Santa Maria, known for his contributions to Vinnie Golia ensembles, Django Django, and Kim Richmond and others, reveals that this project took nearly a decade to complete, shaped by his extensive travels and dedicated studies. Notably, he emphasizes the cyclical, trance-like essence embedded within these compositions. The prolonged wait proves worthwhile as Santa Maria's fusion of worldly influences, rooted in his jazz expertise, culminates in an outstanding album poised to grace numerous ...

36
Album Review

David Whitman: Ode To Joe

Read "Ode To Joe" reviewed by Jack Bowers


While West Coast drummer David Whitman's Ode to Joe [Henderson] is a rather brief one at less than thirty-three minutes, it is otherwise admirable for what is enclosed within its concise parameters. Whitman leads a well-schooled septet whose makeup is freshened by rotating tenor saxophonists Bob Sheppard and Rob Lockart and guitarists Bruce Forman and Chris Montgomery. Whitman and trumpeter Andrew Neesley share composer credits, and Neesley handles the arrangements, awakening warm memories of the Golden Age ...

7
Album Review

David Whitman: Ode To Joe

Read "Ode To Joe" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Dipping into this fine recording is, to mix metaphors a bit, like opening a time capsule. That capsule is called One For All (A&M, 1990), perhaps the final studio recording of Art Blakey with The Jazz Messengers. It was not a perfect outing, but it was a memorable one. The lines got into the head and stayed there, just waiting for a chance to be reawakened. Well, now is the time with Ode to Joe. A convenient link between the ...

708
Album Review

Bernie Dresel: The Pugilist

Read "The Pugilist" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Jack Bowers, All About Jazz's large ensemble authority, previously considered this entire recording, The Pugilist, remarking that ..."if swing is your thing, you've come to the right place, as that is what Dresel and his elite group of sun-baked sidemen (and two women) do best and most often." One of the elements that ensures “swing" is the attentive and informed arrangement of these often sprawling pieces. Dr. Jack Cooper is known for his insightful and creative arrangements of percussion-driven music. ...

1,622
Album Review

The BBB Featuring Bernie Dresel: The Pugilist

Read "The Pugilist" reviewed by Jack Bowers


No, drummer Bernie Dresel hasn't taken a day gig at the Los Angeles-area Better Business Bureau; the BBB in front of his name stands for Bernie's Big Band or Bernin' Big Band or Bernie's Bernin' Band or something like that. It's really hard to say, as the band's full name isn't spelled out anywhere, even on Dresel's web site or Wikipedia. Be that as it may, the important point to keep in mind is that the BBB comes out swingin' ...

1
Album Review

Staci Griesbach: My George Jones Songbook

Read "My George Jones Songbook" reviewed by William H. Snyder


Some might question why write an All About Jazz review of an album featuring songs made popular by George Jones? Duke Ellington had the answer when he said, “There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind ... the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it's successful; if it doesn't it has failed." Staci Griesbach and her colleagues have made good music ...

5
Album Review

Jon Armstrong Sextet: Reabsorb

Read "Reabsorb" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Saxophonist Jon Armstrong reminds us that life and death are two sides of the same coin. Although seemingly disparate, like two sides of an LP, they cannot be separated. His sextet recording Reabsorb models this contrasting device by presenting two contrasting compositions, one on each side of an LP (also available as a CD and download). The music, inspired by an Erin Armstrong poem, presents both sides, which at first encounter come off as binary elements. Loud and soft. Busy ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Ode To Joe

Shifting Paradigm Records
2023

buy

Echo Deep

Orenda Records
2023

buy

My George Jones...

Staci Griesbach
2021

buy

The Pugilist

Self Produced
2021

buy

Reabsorb

Orenda Records
2020

buy

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