Kenny Barron | The Traveler

Tags

African American, Jazz, Piano, Postbop

Kenny Barron | The Traveler

Kenny Barron

To understand the caliber of the man, it’s enough to contemplate the long list of exceptional musicians who have availed themselves of his services during his career, a career lasting some fifty years: from Chet Baker to Freddie Hubbard via Joe Henderson, Abbey Lincoln, Helen Merrill, Chico Freeman, George Benson, Yusef Lateef, Lee Konitz, James Moody or Dizzy Gillespie… Barron, like such other keyboard-legends as Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan, belongs to the aristocracy of the great jazz pianists, musicians who succeeded in taking the accompanist’s art to its highest degree of finesse and distinction.

The Traveler, in this sense, merely extends and deepens the intuitions laid down by his predecessors. It is likely, however, that Kenny Barron never went as far as he does here in expressing a sort of elaborate aesthetic of understatement with a virtuosity that is paradoxical: he reaches the limits of eclipse.

..:: Source: Amazon.com ::..

Bobby Broom | The Way I Play: Live in Chicago

Tags

Contemporary Jazz, Guitar, Jazz

Bobby Broom | The Way I Play: Live in Chicago

Bobby Broom

Jazz guitarist Bobby Broom has been exploring the trio format to rewarding effect not only in his last two CDs, but on a weekly basis for the last ten years at the Evanston eatery called Pete Miller’s Steakhouse – the place Broom calls his ‘laboratory.’ On his new Origin CD, The Way I Play, Broom delves into a program of jazz standards and American songbook classics with longtime trio-mates Dennis Carroll, on bass, and drummer Kobie Watkins. The chemistry is palpable – and pleasurable – in these eight performances, which capture highlights from what the Chicago Tribune calls ‘one of the best ongoing engagements’ in the Chicago area. – Amazon.com

Latin Jazz [Palmieri, Caribbean Jazz Project, Sanchez & VA]

Tags

Jazz, Latin Jazz, Percussion, Piano

Eddie Palmieri | Listen Here!

On Listen Here! the maestro takes his jazz involvement to another level. He assembles an all-star jazz cohort of guest soloists—Michael Brecker, Regina Carter, Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, David Sanchez, and John Scofield and propels them with bassist John Benitez, Cuban traps wizard Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, and master conguero Giovanni Hidalgo, all veterans of various Palmieri ensembles. Following the pianist’s logic, the players immediately enter his world and produce a magical recital that tackles jazz on its own terms and bears Palmieri’s unmistakable tonal imprint. – Concord Music Group

Matthew Shipp Quartet | Cosmic Suite

Tags

African American, Improvised Music, Jazz

Matthew Ship Quartet

“Modern day piano hero Matthew Shipp adds to his voluminous discography with this curiously interesting 2008 date, that at times, sketches out (less physical) parallels to latter day Trane and Cecil Taylor’s horns-based ensembles. Yet it’s not all about flexing muscle and relentlessly soaring into the heavens as the quartet mixes the brew rather jubilantly amid quieter moments and free-form motifs.

On “Cosmic Suite Part Four,” the musicians whirl through a medium tempo shuffle bop, heightened by Carter’s animated sax lines. And of course Shipp remains a catalyst throughout by pushing and pulling the variable metrics. Moreover, drummer Whit Dickey stretches out on “Cosmic Suite Part Eight,” whereas Carter reenters the scene with a reprisal that could be mistaken for a full-fledged aerial assault.

Personal:

Matthew Shipp-piano

Daniel Carter-reeds

Joe Morris-bass

Whit Dickey-drums

– SquidCo.com