Tags
Christmas Music, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Joey DeFrancesco, Latin Jazz, Najee, Organ, Poncho Sanchez, The Yellowjackets
Greeting’s fellow jazz enthusiast … Friday has finally arrived. Today we’re kicking off the weekend with another appetizing array of superb jazz. Being that it’s the “Christmas Season,” we thought we’d pull out jazz super-group the “Yellowjackets” and their infallible interpretations of Christmas classics titled “Peace Round.”
Yellowjackets, Peace
Yellowjackets | Peace Round – “A Christmas Celebration” [Heads Up/Christmas Jazz/2003]
Recording a Christmas collection poses some unique challenges. One must make these familiar Christmas songs personal but at the same time respect their original intent and the spirit of the season. We felt we could best do this by capturing lyrical and relaxed performances. We also wanted to render the songs as directly as possible with spare use of overdubbing. Therefore most performances are first or second takes and all but two are just the quartet live. ~ Yellowjackets.com
Joey DeFrancesco, Ballads
Joey DeFrancesco | Ballads and Blues [Concord/2002]
Joey DeFrancesco’s virtuoso technique, innate soulfulness, and unending reservoir of creative, blues-drenched harmonic and melodic ideas have made him a peerless master of the jazz Hammond B-3 organ. In this perfectly paced outing, the organ phenomenon burns red-hot on swinging blues tunes, and smolders with tastefully restrained passion on beautiful ballads. Joey receives empathetic support from the longtime members of his stalwart trio (Paul Bollenback on guitar and Byron Landham on drums) and some very special guests (guitar wizard Pat Martino and soulful saxophonist Gary Bartz). Joey’s father, Papa John DeFrancesco, and his brother, John DeFrancesco, also sit in, making this outing as much fun as it is musically masterful. ~ Concord Jazz
Poncho Sanchez, Afro
Poncho Sanchez | Afro Cuban Fantasy [Latin Jazz/1998]
Noted conguero Poncho Sanchez is back on the scene with another infectious album that extended the legacy of his tenure with Cal Tjader’s Orchestra. As the titled suggests, Afro-Cuban Fantasy is a celebration of the various dance rhythms that are now known as Latin jazz. A dynamic player with a penchant for muscular rhythm, Sanchez’s arrangements exude the calmer energy that’s more associated with West-coast jazz as opposed to the ecstatic frenzy of the New York and Miami scene. The plush orchestra of burnished brass sails elegantly over the rumbling rhythms of congas, timbales, and percussion, resulting in an swooning, enticing affair that simmers more than it sizzles. The regal Dianne Reeves contributes some authoritative vocals on several tracks. She ups the ante of excitement on Clare Fisher’s “Morning” and seduces wonderfully on the sensuous, “Darn That Dream.” ~ Amazon.com
Najee
Najee | Morning Tenderness [Verve/Smooth jazz/1998]
Jerome Najee Rasheed has used a combination of soprano and tenor saxophones, flute, keyboards, and more to become one of the success stories of smooth-jazz radio. Fittingly, his fifth major recording, Morning Tenderness, is a buttery-soft assortment of R&B-flavored lite jazz intended to meld quickly and easily into the ears. For fans of smooth jazz and its more urban-influenced predecessor, the Quiet Storm, you may be hard-pressed to find a more agreeable, easy-on-the-ears collection of soft soul and gentle saxophone than on this carefully crafted recording. Smooth-jazz artists typically focus on one of two themes, seduction or relaxation, and, as the title suggests, this 10-track collection serves as a soundtrack for slow Sunday mornings and breakfast-in-bed contentment–music for days when you’re riding down Easy Street on cruise control. Najee’s admiration for Stevie Wonder is evident in several tracks, particularly “Indian Summer” and the flute-based “Just for You.” Seven of the album’s tracks feature breathy background vocals as Najee strategically shuffles moods, instruments, and textures. “Room to Breathe,” where Najee delivers huskier tones and more soulful playing, is the album’s most attractive cut. ~ Amazon.com/Terry Wood
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