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Ricardo Monzon
Miles Donahue: Just Passing Thru
by Jack Bowers
Miles Donahue is a versatile musician, a talent that serves him well on Just Passing Thru, an album wherein he not only plays soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, trumpet and keyboards but also wrote all but one of the session's nine selections. This is basically a quintet with guitarist Mike Stern added on the last three tracks, guitarist Sal Difusco and accordionist Joey Barbato on one each. Barbato is an especially welcome addition on the closer, “Ireland," a nod to ...
read moreEarl MacDonald: Open Borders
by Jack Bowers
Open Borders brings to the fore Canadian-born pianist Earl MacDonald's burnished tentet in a program that consists of eleven sunlit and swinging themes, five of which were composed by the leader. Besides writing, MacDonald did most of the arranging, and he excels in both arenas, as he does on piano (most notably on the standards “Blame It On My Youth" and “East of the Sun" as well as on Percy Mayfield's R&B classic “Hit the Road Jack" and his own ...
read moreEarl MacDonald: Open Borders
by Mike Jurkovic
Not many piano led ensembles finds the pianist laying as far back in the musical dialogue as Earl MacDonald, who doesn't come anywhere near an extended solo until “Miles Apart" and Percy Mayfield's Ray Charles blow- out “Hit The Road Jack" (tracks five and six respectively). But that's just fine given that MacDonald has charted the conversations and man oh man, do these arrangements crackle with spirit.From the high-flying “Dig In Buddy" to the exhilarating Latin flavors “Dolphy ...
read moreEarl MacDonald: Open Borders
by Dan Bilawsky
Politicians might do well to take a few pointers from pianist-arranger Earl MacDonald. As this fine album attests to, it's far better to build bridges than walls, and far more productive to open borders and dialogue than close hearts, minds, and doors. While MacDonald didn't initially set out to make a political statement with this recording, both the events of the day and the make-up of the marvelously tight dectet that brings this music to life got ...
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Music
Cobblestones
From: ConvertibleBy Ricardo Monzon
Living Tree
From: BounceBy Ricardo Monzon
